


Whatever It Takes

by totesdefmorgs



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Attempted Non-Consensual Drug Use, CIA Operative OC, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explosions, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Secrets, I added a third Claremont-Diaz sibling, I guess a third sibling would def be AU now that I think about it, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, OC is the protagonist but the other characters play a main role too, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Politics, Some angst, Spies, Spies & Secret Agents, potentially OOC dialogue, somewhat AU, trying not to make OC a Mary Jane but her name is Jane so just pretend its ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:42:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 37,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28854516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totesdefmorgs/pseuds/totesdefmorgs
Summary: You know about the White House Trio, but what about the “other” trio in the Claremont-Diaz family? Alex, June, and their older (usually forgotten) sister Jane, or Elena Jane as her mother would call her. Older than her younger two siblings, she was well established in her own career by the time President Ellen Claremont swore the oath of office. Any one who asked, or bothered to google, would see that Elena Jane Claremont-Diaz is an international human right lawyer who currently works at the Hague in the Netherlands. Graduating from American University for her undergrad, she received a law degree from NYU. She’s notoriously private, never making a campaign appearance for her mother or a photo-op with the rest of her siblings. To the press, she prefers to stay at her home in the Netherlands, quietly working away. But oh, is there so much more to the story.In other words: I added a sibling and am living my own CIA fantasy through the amazing world built in RWRB.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 35
Kudos: 29





	1. The Third

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, 
> 
> So in complete honesty, this is the first time I've posted anything I've attempted to write on this site and I might be freaking the fuck out. It's fine. Everything is fine. I read RWRB and was hooked. Me, being the CIA/Spy junkie that I am, thought, hey, let's give this a go and so here we are. Just to be straightforward, Henry and Alex's relationship will be a part of the story but it's definitely not the main theme. I'm going to do my best to get each character's tone and personality to reflect the amazing writing in the book, however I recognize that I will most likely fail in that endeavor. So, sorry? There will likely be some OOC moments for some of the characters. 
> 
> Anyways, here's the first chapter. Not beta'ed so please forgive mistakes. I was going to spend more time editing, but the more I waited I got closer and closer to talking myself out of posting it at all. 
> 
> Yeah. 
> 
> Enjoy! xx

Sighing, Jane made her way to her desk in the west corner of the second floor. Another typical Monday in Jordan. Hot. Dry. Air Con always on the fritz.

“The Saudis sent over the transcripts from their interviews with the suspected members of the Saudi Cell.” Aaron said before her ass could even touch her squeaking swivel chair.

Her best friend, Aaron has been with the Company as long as she has. They were in the same class at the Farm and were lucky (depending on who you asked) to have been stuck together working the Middle East after "graduation", and now have been “desk buddies” (Aaron’s name, not Jane’s) at the US Embassy in Jordan for the last four months.

“Right, ‘interviews.’ You know, I almost wish they wouldn’t send us anything instead of this bullshit. Nothing in their reports is reliable thanks to their … methods.” she grumbled. “It’s just more paperwork for us.”

While waiting for her ancient computer to turn on, she turned to look out the window and let her thoughts drift. When she signed up for this post, she knew what it entailed. Endless reports and sitting behind a desk. Secretly, she hoped she would be wrong, but still. For every day she got to be out in the streets, there were months of sitting behind her desk. Her ancient shitty desk. Being seen too much was always a risk. Get made, get sent home. They drilled that into her at the Farm. At least, she was out of the U.S. No one ever found their targets from the U.S. (She knew in the back of her mind, that wasn’t true. No one in the Company could forget how a team of CIA women found Osama Bin Laden from the States). Well, partially from the States. Still, it wasn’t a chance she was willing to take. 

She thought about her family. It surprised her when thoughts of them popped into her mind. Slightly embarrassed, she realized that she hadn’t really thought about them in a while, too long probably. Her mom was, narrowly, re-elected as President of the United States - a fact she most certainly did not talk about with Austen or anyone else. Her brother was involved in some sort of scandal involving a British prince, and her sister got a book deal. Yes, the Claremont-Diaz’s were doing well for themselves on the home front.

She was proud, really proud, of all her family was doing even if it made her life difficult. At first, she stuck to the usual protocol for covert operatives. No one really talked about their families, kind of a "don’t ask" situation. You could talk about the basics. Drop a “my brother got married” or whatever. But no names, and as few details as possible. Jane refrained from even those small details. Aaron liked to joke that she just appeared at the CIA one day, no background, the perfect model of a CIA operative. When she started, her mother’s political career was on the rise and her father was well established. She didn’t know exactly how far it would go, but it was decided that she wouldn’t say anything to them about her job at the Company. She would sure some oversight committee somewhere would have a field day if it came out that the daughter of two prominent U.S. politicians was a spook. She fed them her cover story and they accepted it. After all, she’d never given them a reason to doubt her before and she always was the more private of the Claremont-Diaz siblings.

That all changed when her mother won her first term. Her relation to the first sitting president wasn’t a secret to her superiors, but it would change how they dealt with her security and other aspects of her job. You might have guessed, but reading her mother into her job and confessing that she’d basically been lying to her family for years went over about as well as you might think. Some part of Ellen understood the requirements of Jane’s job. But another part, the mother part, was pissed. She went full Texan on Jane. Jane took it, of course she did. She was never one to take part in arguments with her mother. She was more of the keep-silent-and-keep-going type. At the end of the day, though, there wasn’t much Ellen could do. She sure as hell wasn’t going to give up her position at the Company, and Ellen wouldn’t make her. After all, who was the first female president of the USA to say that her daughter couldn’t continue on her own successful career path? It was all worked out by her mother’s team and their connections in the intelligence community. Jane would keep her position and life would pretty much continue as normal. No overly dangerous postings - Jane could kiss goodbye the chance of ever going to Afghanistan or Pakistan (much to her chagrin). Her mother would be read into her ops only as was necessary, only if any other president in history would be involved. She made her mother promise not to use her position to check up on her. Ellen agreed. Life moved on.

The rest of her family was still in the dark, believing that she was just a work-a-holic lawyer who couldn’t pull herself away from her job to come home more than once a year. Jane ever showed her face in D.C. if she could avoid it, especially not with her family. Instead, choosing to meet them in Texas at Lake LBJ. To be honest, she preferred it this way. Her brother liked to say that she was emotionally constipated, distant. Maybe she was. But she honestly didn’t mind communicating with them through email or facetime. It was like they were still together in one place most of the time. Beyond the digging comments that she got from them about not coming home more often, it wasn’t until her mother’s first election that she had any real pushback from them.

June left well enough alone, but Alex wouldn’t let it go. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that his “strong, female, lawyer, sister” wouldn’t take the time to come witness her own mother’s, the first female president’s, own inauguration ceremony or work on her campaign. It was one of the only real fights they ever had, and it took the hectic first months of moving into the White House and starting Georgetown to help Alex cool down his anger toward his oldest sister. They talked a little less after that. Both of them chalked it up to being busy, Alex with his studies and Jane with her “lawyering.” She kept up a pretty decent stream of communication with June though. June was always a little less involved with her mother’s political ambitions, and those of Alex’s too.

Their second real fight came when she told her family that she wouldn’t come back to the states for election night in 2020. Her mother understood, after all, she was the only one who knew. But her brother ,man, that boy was livid. They didn’t talk for a while after that. Probably not until around Christmas, yet another holiday she spent away. June kept her up to date with the goings on in the family. Letting her know about Alex and his new boyfriend, and their plans to move to New York. Joking about how she wouldn’t be the only Claremont-Diaz attorney out there anymore. June was great about making sure that she felt in-the-loop without making it obvious that she was trying to do so. They exchanged emails once or twice a week, and tried to call a few times a month.

Until it all stopped.

**

At first, June didn’t think anything of it. It wasn’t abnormal for Jane to drop off the face of the Earth for a while, burying herself in a particularly involved case. But days turned to weeks, turned into a month and a half with no reply from Jane.

“June, I’m buried up to my ass in paint swatches. Who knew decorating was so hard?” Alex bemoaned as soon as he answered her call.

“Hello, nice to hear from you too.” she quipped, “You did choose this for yourself you know.”

“I know. Don’t remind me.”

“Sorry but I did actually have a reason for calling you, have you heard from our dear sister recently?” she asked, hoping he would say yes.

“No. We haven’t spoken weeks I think. Honestly, between going back and forth from here to London, and getting everything settled here I haven’t really thought about Jane.” he said quietly. “The last time we spoke wasn’t all that pleasant.”

June hummed. She remembered their fight, having been in the room with Alex as he argued about Jane’s absence from their lives.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, we usually exchange emails back and forth pretty often. But she hasn’t responded to me in almost a month. It just doesn’t feel right.” June admitted.

She could practically see Alex rolling his eyes at her through the phone.

“I mean, it’s not that usual. This is the same sister we haven’t seen in almost a year, who refuses to come home and be a part of this family.” he scoffed.

Jane felt herself getting frustrated.

“I know that, Alex, but I’m worried. Even when she gets tied up in case, it’s usually never like this. Or at least, she usually tells me she’s tied up.” June could see this topic was going nowhere, and resolved to herself to try to call her mother as soon as possible.

When Alex didn’t respond, she decided to move on.

“Is Henry back from London yet?” she changed the subject.

“No, he gets in tomorrow. Lucky bastard has managed to avoid most of this decorating bullshit. All I get is, ‘anything you like is fine, Alex’ or ‘I don’t care what it looks like if you’re there.”

He says things like he’s put out, but June knows. He’s not nearly as good at hiding the fondness in his voice as he’d like to believe.

“Lucky him. Anyways. I’m gonna go track down Mom. Maybe she’s heard something. I’ll see you in a few weeks when I come visit.”

“Byeeeeeeee.”

June hangs up the phone and takes a deep breath. She doesn’t know why she’s getting so worked up over this. Something in her gut just doesn’t feel right.

She opens her contacts, deciding to call Zahra first. Usually it was easier to get her on a line than her mother or to go off wandering about the Residence in the hopes of running into her.

Right as she was about to dial, she got an incoming call from Zahra herself.

Odd.

But ok, maybe this was the universe trying to solve her problems for her? Hah - doubtful.

“Small world, I was just about to call you. Any chance you can get me on a line with my mom?” June said as she answered.

“June, I need you to come down to the West Wing.” Zahra said in lieu of responding to Jane’s question.

“Ok, sure. Why?”

“Just come down, please, your mother will explain when you get there.” Zahra hung up the phone with that.

Ok.

June realized that was odd, and that brief exchange only added to her unease. She felt her phone vibrate in her hand and looked down to see a message from her brother.

_Any chance you know why I was summarily loaded into a vehicle and am being summoned to the D.C.?_

_What did you and Henry do this time?_

_What?! Nothing. At least, nothing I can think of. We’ve been really good._

_Joking, bro. Idk what’s going on. Zahra called me down to the West Wing too. Guess we’ll find out soon enough._

She tucked her phone into her pocket and made her way out of the Residence toward her mother’s office, that anxious feeling in her gut settled in, clearly planning to stay there a while.


	2. Birdwatcher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex needs two pots of coffee and a fucking nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Hello 
> 
> First, thanks for the comments and kudos. They were both unexpected and very welcome. 
> 
> This was a longer chapter than I intended, but I don't suppose that's a bad thing? I got started and kind of word-vomited into my google doc. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this rather dialogue-heavy installment. 
> 
> Again, please forgive any mistakes. I shall try to improve my editing as I move on. 
> 
> Enjoy xx

After their argument before election night, Alex found himself pushing thoughts of Jane to the back of his mind. Honestly, he tried his best not to think about this other  _ sister _ . If anyone asked, he would tell them it’s because he rarely sees her and they live such separate lives. But if the right person (read: Henry) asked, it’s because he can’t help but feel basically abandoned by Jane. They were all so close when they were kids. Playing together, her helping him with his homework. They could tell each other anything. Even when she went off to university, they talked a lot. Then it all changed. It’s like she left everything behind the second she got on that plane to the Netherlands all those years ago. Nothing was the same after that. She gave vague answers to questions and never came home. Well - not never, but so infrequently Alex thinks she would probably need directions to find their home. 

So when June called, asking if he’d heard from Jane, he startled a little, because - no - he couldn’t remember the last time he spoke with his oldest sister. He told June that it had been weeks, but in reality it might have been longer. He couldn’t remember. Maybe Christmas? Even if they spoke on Christmas, it certainly wasn’t more than a brief ‘Merry Christmas.’ No, their last conversation was almost certainly the argument back in November. He couldn’t understand how she would just abandon them when mom was up for re-election, how she could abandon him. Leave him to deal with his outing by Richards, and with everything else for years! 

He told himself, but no one else, of course, that he was done. She could reach out if she wants but he would keep living his life. And his life was pretty good right now. 

Henry knew a little about Jane. She’d been briefly mentioned during one late night conversation, he couldn’t remember when. He’d asked about the oldest sister, couldn’t even remember that her name was Jane. Alex couldn’t blame him though. Jane’s name was on his mother’s wikipedia page (he’d checked) but beyond that she was never mentioned. It’s like the world forgot that there is another Claremont-Diaz sibling, and Alex couldn’t understand how. Honestly, it felt like it wasn’t just the world that forgot, it felt like his parents forgot too. June would occasionally mention her (like in the phone call), but his parents  _ never _ talked about Jane. Never. He told Henry of his frustrations. He told him about how they'd been so close as kids but how they felt more like strangers than siblings now. 

Sitting in the living room of the brownstone surrounded by paint swatches and lists of things he still needed to do, Alex found himself so lost in his reverie that he didn’t notice Cash coming in. 

“Alex, I’ve just gotten off the phone with Zahra. We need to go to D.C.” he said. 

“Shit!” Alex jumped, “I swear I’m gonna get you a bell one of these days.” 

“I have a feeling that could be counter-productive.” Cash smiled, “But seriously, pack whatever you need because our flight to D.C. leaves as soon as we can make it to the airport.” 

Alex frowned and looked at his phone. It was almost 6PM. What could they possibly need from him? By the time they got to the airport, landed in D.C., and made it to the White House, there’s no way he would be there before 9PM. All that’s assuming there is some sort of traffic miracle in  _ both _ cities. 

“Did Zahra say why they want me there?” he questioned. 

“Nope, and I didn’t ask.” Cash replied. Cash, like most, realized life is easier when you do what Zahra wants, not that Alex could bring himself to fall in line quite as well as Cash did. Well, ok. That’s not exactly fair. He does  _ try  _ to behave and he does  _ try _ to avoid causing any international incidents, but the universe hates him and seems to be actively sabotaging him at every turn. 

Alex rolled his eyes and went to pack an overnight bag. Thankfully, David was with Henry so he didn’t have to worry about packing the beagle’s things. 

He shoots off a quick text to Henry letting him know what was up. He figured Henry would be up as it’s only midnight GMT, but just in case he decided not to call. 

_ Hey, I’ve been summoned to the White House. Not sure why, but I’ll let you know when I know. I love you. _

**_HRH Prince Dickhead_ **

_ Love you too. Let me know if you want me to meet you in D.C. instead of New York.  _

_ Will do. It’s probably nothing. I’ll probably be back in New York before you will. _

_ Or maybe not, and you can deal with the painters for a change.  _

**_HRH Prince Dickhead_ **

_ Yes, I think a complete replica of my room from Kensington shall do.  _

_ You shut your perfect face. Don’t touch anything.  _

_ I love you.  _

Alex sighed, smiling. Henry. Ok, so maybe the universe wasn't trying to sabotage  _ all  _ aspects of his life. His relationship was going quite well, thank you very much. They were figuring it out, and in a soon they would both be in New York, in their (Henry's) brownstone together. 

__

***

Getting from the airport to the White House was pretty much second nature by now. He’d done it enough times that he could probably do it with his eyes closed. Not that anyone was letting him behind the wheel in D.C. anytime soon. 

He quickly made his way into the West Wing and was directed to his mother’s office, the Oval Office. 

“Oh, thank God.” June sighed, exasperated, “No one would tell me what the hell is going on until you were here.” 

Again, Alex felt himself rolling his eyes. 

“Sorry, I was just coming from another state and all. Next time I’ll be sure to use the teleporter.” 

He sat down next to June. This mother and Leo sat on the opposite couch from himself and June. Zahra was in an armchair to his mother’s right and next to her was another man who Alex didn’t recognize. To his great surprise, and apprehension, his father was on June’s left. Honestly, that fact in and of itself told him everything he needed to know. It wasn’t a holiday, and Alex could see no other reason for them all to be gathered if everything was ok. Something was wrong. 

He turned to look at his mother. Her face was blank, masked like she was in the middle of a debate or something. 

“First,” Ellen Claremont started, “you need to know that there were legitimate reasons you were not told of this before now. Legitimate legal and security reasons.” 

Shit. Where the hell was she going with this? 

When they were silent, Ellen kept talking. 

“We need to talk about Jane.” 

Jane. He’d heard that name more in the last six hours than the last six months. 

Then the man on his mother’s right started to speak. 

“I'm Jason Arnolds, liaison for your mother’s administration to the Central Intelligence Agency. Your sister, Elena Jane Claremont-Diaz, is a CIA officer. She is currently stationed at our embassy in Amman, Jordan. She - ” he told the Claremont-Diaz siblings. Clearly he was speaking just to them, meaning everyone else was already in on this - whatever ‘this’ was. 

“I’m just gonna stop you right there.” Alex interrupted, “My sister is a lawyer. At the Hague. In the Netherlands. In Europe.” 

Alex looked at his mother, at his father, looking for any kind of reassurance that he was right and this dickhead in a suit was just some elaborate prank they decided to pull because their lives weren’t already complicated enough. 

He got nothing. Just level stares from everyone else. 

He looked at June. At least she seemed surprised. He knew June wouldn’t say anything though, not until she had more information. 

“I mean. Come on.” Alex scoffed. “This is Jane we’re talking about!” 

“Alex, mijo, just listen for a minute.” his father said quietly. 

Then his mother jumped in. 

“I promise both of you that this is all true. Jane is CIA. She’s always been CIA. The Hague and the Netherlands, that was her cover. In normal situations, the immediate family is usually aware of their family member’s job at the CIA, no details just that they work there. Our situation isn't exactly what one would call _normal._ Jane decided against this. She felt it would be too complicated with our political careers and then she wanted to separate herself as much as possible from being a FDOTUS. Even I didn’t know - “ 

“What do you mean you didn’t know?!” Alex interrupted, again. 

“She didn’t tell me until I was elected in 2016.” Ellen said quietly. “Even then, I was told the bare minimum only because my new position affected her own security and the protocol with which 

she was to continue working as a clandestine officer.” Ellen explained. “She made me promise that I wouldn’t use my position to check up on her, a promise which I have kept.” 

First the first time in his 20-odd years, Alex was well and truly speechless. Of all the reasons he had to come to the White House this evening, he would’ve bet on unicorns being discovered in Yosemite before he would’ve bet on his sister being CIA. 

Like - who even has family members in the CIA? Aren’t they all supposed to be, like, loners or something? 

When neither Alex nor June said anything, their mother kept speaking. 

“I understand that this is definitely a shock, but -” 

“A shock? A SHOCK?” Alex found that he could hear himself getting louder and louder but couldn’t do anything about it. “I think finding out that your sister, who you believed had a regular 9 to 5 job as a lawyer, is actually a fucking birdwatcher is a bit more than a shock, Mom.” 

He saw Jason Arnolds - if that’s really even his name - barely refrain from rolling his eyes. 

June snorted. 

“Birdwatcher.” she shook her head. “You've been spending too much time with Henry, little bro.” 

“Fuck you, no I haven’t.” he shot back, “If anything I haven’t spent enough time with him.” 

“Anyways!” Ellen interjected, “Yes, your sister is a CIA officer and from what I’m told we have every reason to be very proud of her. However, we didn’t bring you here just to tell you about Jane being in the CIA.” 

Alex was, again, flabbergasted. What else could they possibly have to say? He was going to need at least two pots of coffee to process everything they’d just told him. 

“Mr. Arnolds, if you will.” Ellen indicated that Arnolds should pick up where he left off. 

“Yes, thank you, Madame President.” he started, “As I said, your sister is stationed in Jordan. I can’t get into the specifics of what she was working on there. However, in the most general terms, Jane cultivates assets and collects intelligence to safeguard American interests.” 

When Alex didn’t interrupt, Arnolds kept going. 

“Usually, she remains safely inside the US Embassy compound in Amman. As part of the arrangement we have for her security, she only leaves when absolutely necessary. No one other than her superiors, heads of department, etc. know of her relation to President Claremont. She goes by Jane Diaz and in a world where everyone keeps secrets for a living, no one really goes digging into other’s pasts.”

Alex supposed that makes sense. It almost felt like she was hiding in plain sight. 

Wait. Before this so-called ‘Jason Arnolds’ kept going, Alex had questions and he was going to get answers. 

“Wait, wait, wait. That’s all well and good. Truly. But Mr. Arnolds, if that’s even your real name,“ This time Arnolds couldn’t refrain from rolling his eyes, but he was joined by Zahra too, “Has she been in D.C.? Has she been right under our noses but still refusing to acknowledge our existence?” 

Alex felt himself moving on from the shock and drifting more toward anger. 

He kept talking, “I know you said she’s been stationed in Jordan, but only for a few months? Because we’ve been in D.C. for years,  _ years,  _ and you expect me to believe she hasn’t been to this city while we were here?” 

Alex felt himself getting warmer and warmer as his frustration built. Why wasn’t June saying anything? Was he the only one pissed off? 

“And mom! You knew! You knew and you didn’t say anything!” 

“No, Alex.” Ellen cut off his budding rant, “I knew she was in the CIA, but, like I said, I didn’t know anything else. I promised her I wouldn’t ask. If she was ever in D.C., I didn’t know about it.” 

Alex turned his attention to Arnolds. 

“Well?” he asked, “Care to share?” 

“I cannot disclose Ms. Diaz’s - “ 

“Claremont-Diaz.” Alex interrupted. “She may not like it, but it’s her name.” 

“I cannot disclose her locations. It stands to reason she probably did come to D.C. However, some operatives stay outside of D.C. their entire career after the completion of their training. And, if I am correct, your sister finished her training right before your mother announced her candidacy for the presidency.” Jason Arnolds said far too clinically for Alex’s taste. 

“Ok. Sure.” Alex said, coldly. 

“Five days ago, your sister left the embassy to meet with an asset near a town called Irbid, close to the border with Syria.” 

Alex felt his mouth go dry. Nothing with the words ‘border’ and ‘Syria’ in the same sentence could be a good thing. 

Arnolds kept talking, “She knew going to Irbid was risky, but felt the importance of meeting with the asset, who refused to deal with any other officer, was too great to pass up. She went, with a small security detail. Four days ago, she lost contact with her security detail and we have not been able to contact her since.” 

What. The. Hell. 

_ Seriously _ , Alex thought to himself,  _ What the hell is going on right now? _

“Our sister has been effectively missing for four days, and you people are just  _ now _ telling us?” 

“Sir, it’s our policy that the family not be-”

“Bullshit! Look I’m sorry, but I’m not sure how you people can overlook the fact that Jane isn’t just some girl. She's the daughter to the president of the United States of America, the first female president. How could you, and yes I’m lumping you in here too Mom, allow this to happen?" 

He was incredulous. None of this made any sense. Sure, he’s all about living your life, and doing what you're passionate about. After all, Alex knew he was one of the most ambitious assholes out there, but at some point you have to draw the line. Sending the daughter of the first female president of the United States to fucking Syria, of all places? It’s madness, absolute insanity. 

And why did it feel like he was the only one getting that? 

“Alex!” his mother said, sharply. “Your sister’s choices were her own. I support her. The agency did the best they could and now you will shut up and listen to what Mr. Arnolds has been trying to tell you.” 

Alex looked toward his father. He wore his  _ shut-up-and-listen-to-your-mother  _ face that Alex knew meant he had better fall in line on this one. 

He nodded. 

“Usually we wait a week. A week to see if the missing operative can be recovered before alerting the family. However, due to increased terrorist activity, we felt it would be best to alert the president.” 

The explosions. 

Alex knew immediately what Arnolds was talking about. Somewhere in his brain, he remembered some CNN alerts popping up on his phone about explosions, bombs, going off in Jordan just a few days ago. Shit. 

Alex was taking deep breaths, or trying to. Suddenly, he realized he was clutching June’s hand, probably too tightly, but in that moment it was definitely the only thing keeping him from floating off in his own head. 

“So what now?” June finally spoke up. 

“Her partner has been dispatched to the area. He’s the most familiar with what she was working on. Now, we wait.” 

With that Arnolds finished. 

His mother stood up and so did Arnolds and the other adults in the room. 

“Thank you very much for coming to tell us all this, please let me know right away if there is any new information.” 

Alex heard his mother thanking Arnolds, but he didn’t really register what was being said. He was too caught up trying to process the absolute mountain of shit that was just dumped on him. 

Everyone but his mother, father, and Leo left the room, and his father came to sit next to him. 

“They will let us know as soon as they have any more information. For now, I think it’s best we all get some sleep. Alex, you can -” 

“I’m staying here.” There was no way he would be going back to New York yet. No, he would stay right there so he could know as soon as the so-called 'Arnolds' had something to tell them.

Right inside his own kind of gilded cage. Surrounded by Secret Service and bullet proof glass, while his sister was God knows where alone, practically in fucking _Syria_.

He suddenly felt nauseated. Shit. He needed to get out of that room. He needed space. He needed air. 

He needed Henry. 

He got up quickly and headed toward his bedroom, pulling out his phone. Fuck. 

He dialed Henry and prayed that he was still awake. Knowing that Henry was already coming to the states tomorrow made what he was about to do slightly easier, but he still felt shitty. 

“-‘ello?” Henry’s sleepy voice came across the line. Shit he had been sleeping. 

“Hen.” Alex could hear his own voice, but it didn’t sound like him. “ _Hen_ ,” his voice broke again, “Hen, I fucking - _sorry_. I fucking need you.” 

And then, in the quiet safety of the East Bedroom, Alex cried. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those that might not know, "birdwatcher" is a British slang word for a spy. 
> 
> I'm working on the third chapter right now. Hopefully, I'll have it up tomorrow! No promises, but that's the goal.


	3. Spiral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex spirals, but Henry is there to pull him out of the rabbit hole.

Surely that wasn’t his phone. The one night he managed to go to sleep at a half-way decent time without Alex being with him, surely that wasn’t his phone ringing. 

Maybe if he stayed really still and pretended it wasn’t happening, it would stop. 

But then some part of his still asleep brain remembered Alex suddenly going to D.C. He at least needed to see if it was Alex calling about whatever the latest crisis was. 

Sure enough, when he rolled over and held up his phone to squinting eyes, he was met with his love’s smiling face from the last Young Americans Gala. 

He pressed ‘accept’ and let out a sleepy “-ello?”

“Hen.” Alex croaked. “Hen,” his voice broke again, “Hen, I fucking - sorry. I fucking need you.” 

The tone of Alex’s voice had him alert and sitting upright before he could fully process what was being said. 

“Alex, love. What’s going on?” he’d never heard Alex sound like this before. 

And then Henry’s heart broke even further hearing the man he loved start to let gut-wrenching sobs while trying to say something. 

Henry tried to get him to calm down a little so they could at least talk, “Love, I need you to breathe with me.” He tried to guide some deep breaths, but it sounded like Alex was on the verge of a panic attack. Which could  _ not  _ bloody happen while he was stuck on another bloody continent. 

After a few minutes of Henry speaking calmly and talking about anything that he could think of, Alex slowly started to breathe more normally and maybe calm down enough to explain what was happening. 

“That’s it, love. You’re ok. Whatever is going on, I’ll be there as soon as I can and we’ll get through it.” Henry said quietly. 

“Hen. I can’t- I don’t even know what - Henry I need you to come. I’m sorry. I’m so shitty for asking but I need you to come, please. Come to D.C.” Alex said, voice choking up with tears. 

“Of course. I’m packing right now.” and he was, sometime during the last few minutes his body got up and moved toward his closet. “I texted Shaan and he’s getting everything sorted. I’ll be on my way soon. I love you.” 

“Thank you.” Alex whispered. 

“Baby, what’s going on?” Henry tried asking again what had his boyfriend so distraught. 

“I can’t say.” Alex sounded so tired. “I can’t say over the phone for sure. I think I can say in person, I’ll have to check with Zahra. But I definitely can’t say on the phone.” 

Well that was...odd. Not completely unexpected. You don’t have an upbringing like Henry’s and not understand secrets, especially state-mandated ones. 

“Ok, ok, love. It’s fine. We’ll figure it out.” Henry assured him. “I’m almost ready. Shaan texted saying we’re good to go so I’ll be there as soon as I can and I’ll text you when I land.” 

“I don’t deserve you. Thank you, thank you. I love you.” Alex whispered. 

“We absolutely deserve each other, and I love you too. Hold on, I’m coming.” Henry said again.

They each said their good-byes and Henry slipped his phone into the pocket of the trousers he somehow managed to don during that conversation. 

His mind felt like it was running a mile a minute. What could’ve possibly happened? His boyfriend was usually the one calming him down. He had a pretty cool head, unless something really pissed him off. He’d seen Alex angry several times, but not upset. Not like that anyways. 

He quickly finished throwing the last few things into his bag, and he got all of David’s things together. Thankfully, because they were already planning to leave that day (just several hours later), they were mostly ready to go. He gently woke up David from his bed, and got him into the carrier before heading out to meet Shaan where the car was waiting. 

“Sorry about this, but it’s an emergency. Alex needs me.” Henry said quietly when we got to the car. 

“Perfectly alright, your highness.” Shaan responded. “I had a feeling you might need to go a bit sooner than originally planned.” 

Henry looked at him questioningly. 

“Ms. Bankston called to inform me there was a family emergency and that Mr. Claremont-Diaz would undoubtedly call you.” Shaan explained.

Of course Zahra called. 

Family emergency. Henry hated that saying. It was the polished, polite way to say that someone’s family was falling (or could potentially be) apart. Also, it brought back memories that he would need to keep pushed well down for the time being. He couldn’t get caught up in his head, not now. Not when Alex needed him. 

On the drive to Heathrow, Henry sent a few messages to his mother and Bea. Someone else could handle Phillip. Things were improving slightly between them, but even one snide comment from Phillip would be too much to handle right now. 

He just told them that he was leaving a little earlier than planned and would be going to D.C. instead in New York. He told them not to worry, but Alex needed him. 

He found himself laughing slightly when he looked at the words  _ don’t worry _ typed so neatly on the screen. It wasn’t truly funny, per say, but entirely the opposite of how he was feeling. 

Of course, he wasn’t going to press Alex for details when he was that upset, but his mind was racing. Worst case scenarios were popping in and out of his mind faster than he could really process them. 

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice they’d arrived.  Soon enough, though, they were barreling down the runway and were headed in the right direction. One step closer to Alex. 

*** 

After hanging up the phone with Henry, Alex sat there on his bed frowning at his phone. 

He tried to take some more deep breaths. He was far calmer now than he was at the start of the phone call but his heart was still racing. 

Fuck. He couldn’t just sit there and wait. He needed to do something. So he did what he does best. He went to their kitchen in the Residence, started up the coffee maker, grabbed his laptop and got to work. 

If the CIA wasn’t going to tell him any more details than they already did, then he was going to learn all he could about the situation. 

Several hours (and cups of coffee) later, Alex was most definitely  _ not _ ok. Nope. Not at all. He never should’ve opened his laptop. He never should’ve google the words “CIA officer MIA,” and he most definitely should not have looked into the terrorism statistics from Jordan. 

But he did, and he couldn’t unsee all that he had already seen. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

His hands were shaking, but he honestly didn’t know if it was from the caffeine, lack of sleep, or sheer terror he felt at what he’d learned.  Alex being Alex, though, couldn’t leave well enough alone, so that’s where Henry found him when he finally arrived later that day. Hunched over his laptop, empty coffee mug, and potentially twitching. 

Henry placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder as he walked up to him. The fact that Alex didn’t say anything when Henry came in, let him know Alex hadn’t actually noticed he was in the room. 

Alex gasped and whipped around. 

“Shit, you scared me.” Alex breathed. “Oh, wow, how did you get here so quickly? I thought you were going to text when you landed?” 

Alex was confused about how Henry could be standing right in front of him when he’d been on the other side of the world just a few hours ago. 

“I did, love. I guess you didn’t see it.” Henry frowned, picking up on the fact that his boyfriend had likely been in this position for far too long if he thought Henry was here too ‘quickly’. “It’s the early afternoon. Have you been up this whole time?” 

Henry sat down next to Alex on the couch where he had set up shop, and ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s dark curls. 

“Huh, uh yeah I guess so. Wow, it's already 3pm.” Alex said more to himself than to the man sitting next to him. Alex leaned into Henry’s shoulder as Henry lifted his laptop and set it on the coffee table in front of them. 

“Yeah, love it is. Have you eaten anything? Slept?” Henry asked, still brushing through Alex’s hair. 

“Uh no.” Alex said, “to both of those questions.” 

“Ok, well. First, I’m going to go find you some food. Then we’re going to sleep for a while. After that we can talk about what’s going on.” Henry decided, trying keep just how worried Alex's state had him out of his tone.

“Oh, I mean it’s ok we can just -” 

“No. I’m going to find you some food. We are going to sleep, and then we’ll talk about what’s going on. In that order. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.” Henry told Alex definitively. 

Alex sighed, resting his head on Henry’s ridiculous broad shoulder. Stupid broad princely polo shoulder.

“What would the Queen say if she heard you making Monopoly jokes? Isn’t that, like, beneath your royal dignity or something? Wouldn’t want to break the rules and all that." 

Ah, there's the Alex he was used too. 

“Oh yes, please don’t tell the Queen that her gay grandson, who was involved in an international sex scandal with his FSOTUS boyfriend, broke the rules and played Monopoly. I don’t think her heart could bear it.” Henry quipped back. 

“If we could only be so lucky.” Alex murmured. 

Henry snorted. “Stay here, love. I’ll be right back before you know it.”

Alex sighed again, but let Henry get up off the couch. As Henry left the room, he ran into June who was in the Residence kitchen. 

“I wondered when you would get here.” she said when she saw him. “I think he’s still asleep, I haven't seen him all day.”

“I just came from his room. Went there first. He’s apparently been awake the whole time. It looks like he was researching or something.” Henry sighed. “He looks completely strung out.” 

“Oh, shit. I think we all just assumed he was asleep and would come out when he woke up. I can’t believe I didn’t think to go in there and check on him.” June looked guilty, “Just, after last night, I think we were all so caught up in our own heads. No excuse really, but still.” 

“Don’t feel bad, you know how Alex is. Besides, it’s not the first time he’s pulled an all-nighter.” Henry reassured her. 

He wanted to ask her about last night, but hesitated. Should he ask? 

Before he could contemplate further, Zahra walked in. 

“Ah yes, just who I was looking for. Henry, is Alex up yet?” she asked. 

“No,” he said, deciding not to go too far into detail about the spiral he found Alex in just a while ago.

Zahra nodded. “Well, when he wakes up, tell him I said it’s ok to read you in to the situation. The president gave her approval. He’ll know what I mean.” 

Henry nodded, grabbed the toast he’d made for Alex and the glass of water before heading back to the East Bedroom, leaving Zahra and June to themselves. 

When he got back to Alex’s room, he found his boyfriend slumped over and asleep on the couch. He found himself fondly rolling his eyes and supposed the toast could wait. He might as well let him sleep as long as he could. Not on the couch though, so Henry gently worked his arms under Alex’s tired body and lifted him off the couch. Holding him against his chest, Henry moved to put him down on the bed. Carefully, he laid him down and when he moved to stand up, he felt Alex’s hand clutching at his shirt. 

“Stay.” Alex mumbled. 

“Of course, love. I just need to take off my shoes.” 

Alex mumbled something else but Henry couldn’t really make it out. He took off his shoes and quickly grabbed a blanket from the couch, he didn’t want to risk waking up Alex trying to get under the covers. 

He crawled into the bed behind his boyfriend and pulled him into his chest. Despite all the craziness going on in their lives, he can’t deny how good, how right, it feels to hold Alex. He burrowed his nose into Alex's dark curls, breathing in the scent of his shampoo and something he could only describe as “Alex.” 

Henry still didn’t know what was going on in the Claremont-Diaz family, but whatever it was he would be there. He’d stay with Alex every step of the way. 

He continued to mull over the possibilities as he noticed the sun started to set, and he remembered the few things he noticed when he moved Alex’s laptop. Having only noticed glimpses of the papers, he was far from having the complete pictures. He did remember seeing “Jordan” and “Syria” a few times, but what do two middle eastern countries have to do with his boyfriend being so distraught? 

He didn’t know. What he did know, thought, was whatever was going on - whatever the ‘family emergency’ was, he would be there. Alex wouldn’t be alone. He knew that Alex’s family was very different to his own, and he knew firsthand how they support and love each other. Still, though, he promised himself that Alex will not be alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like writing intense emotions and couple-y interactions is difficult. Hopefully, I was successful. The next chapter will explain some more things and hopefully get the plot moving a bit more than this one.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'm shook by the response this fic is getting, so I really appreciate it! 
> 
> xx


	4. Flying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane's time in Irbid. 
> 
> **TW**  
> Please know that his chapter includes descriptions of bombings, injuries, and brief mentions of a gun. 
> 
> Nothing is terribly graphic, but if these things will be triggering to you, please don't read.

Half-way through the 90 minute drive to Irbid, Jane felt her mind wandering as it had so often in the last few weeks. They bumped along the road and Jane quietly watched the landscape roll by, sweat dripping down the back of her neck. In case no one realized, it was fucking hot in Jordan. All the time. Even at night, in her tiny apartment with the air con turned up to the max, she was sweating. Jane honestly couldn’t remember the last time she felt cold - or the last time she wasn’t covered in dust. Sandy. Dusty. Those two words pretty much summed up her entire life in Jordan. 

She sighed and tugged at her hijab. Anytime she left the embassy she wore one. It made it a little easier to blend in. Most people wouldn’t look twice at a woman with a hijab walking down the street. Sure, some jordanian women didn’t wear them, but they were definitely in the minority. Jane didn’t want to give anyone a reason to look at her twice. 

She thought about her family. They were creeping into her thoughts more and more these days. She wondered what they were doing, what they were feeling. Did they miss her? Or did her constant pushing them away finally drive them away for good? She knew it was shitty not to reply to June’s last email or her calls, but something in her knew that if she picked up the phone or sat down to type an email, the words would flow right out and the jig would be up. Frankly, she was tired. She loved her job, but she was exhausted. She didn’t want to go back to the states, but, at the same time, that’s exactly what she wanted. A rest. A break in between postings to eat elotes with her brother, watch stupid movies with her sister, and debate policy with her parents. 

She was due some R&R, and while she wouldn’t be able to fully relax, maybe she could try to arrange a trip to Texas. Yes. She resolved to put in her request when she made it back to Amman. She could spend a week or two at home, and then head back to Jordan ready to get back into work. After all, if this little outing to Irbid was successful, the intel should lead them to the location of her target. 

It was risky, she knew that. This particular asset was one she cultivated years ago in Lebanon, when she was still pretty new to the Company. They had contact only a few times since then, but each time the intel was ridiculously good. So when they reached out through their designated channel, Jane knew she had to go. She packed up her security team and got in the SUV. That was that. 

As they pulled into their safe house and unloaded the gear, Jane ran through their plan once again. Tomorrow she would meet the asset in the bazaar, a very public place for a meeting but a perfect reason for two women to be seen speaking to one another. She would meet at the stall where a woman sold cloth for hijabs. The same place they met almost two years ago. They could walk the market together, get the intel, and then part ways like old friends. Simple. 

She would be connected with her security team who would remain on the other side of the bazaar through her ear piece. If all hell broke loose or if she got separated, they were to meet back at the safe house. If that wasn’t an option if they thought they were being followed, then they were to meet at a secondary safe house. 

That was the plan. 

That night, Jane found herself struggling to sleep. She was still thinking about home. Cursing her wandering mind, she got up to throw some water on her face and hopefully cool herself down a little. 

She needed to get her head in the game. Jane was a professional and she’s fucking good at her job. She could keep her head in any situation and she always got the job done. 

So why is she struggling so much now? 

She stood staring at herself in the bathroom mirror, and she found that she barely recognized herself. Would Alex or June recognize her? 

She shook her head. 

No. It wouldn’t do her any good to think of such things now, so she went back to her bed and did her best to catch a few hours of sleep. 

***

Jane hated bazaars. They were too crowded, too hot and dusty, but that’s exactly why it was good for meetings. The noise and general chaos would drown out anything the two women discussed. 

She kept her eyes alert and tried to be aware of her surroundings as she made her way to the cloth stall. The bazaar had not changed all that much since the last time she was there. She doubted it had changed very much in the last 50 years, the same families working the same stalls year after year.

She saw the asset right away, dressed in dark clothes with her hair covered. She had more lines on her face than the last time, but there was no mistaking her. 

Jane didn’t say anything at first. Instead, making conversation with the owner of the stall and she asked about the price on a beautiful green cloth. After a little while, the asset approached her. Jane asked her pass-question, and the asset gave the appropriate response. Jane let out a little sigh of relief that she wasn’t aware she had been holding until it was gone. The asset gave the response to indicate all was well. They walked about the stall and ventured into the surrounding stalls. They made it to a spice stall close to the edge of the market, their meeting drawing to a close. 

Jane felt re-invigorated after their talk. This intel was good. Really good, like, catch a high-value target and maybe get a promotion kind of good. 

***

It’s a funny thing flying. Jane flew around the world in her lifetime more times than she cared to count. Flying was always the same. You feel it when you take off and you feel it when you land. The in-between time is just existing, almost nothingness. Time stands still as you cross time zones and datelines. 

Jane felt it when the bomb went off, felt it before she heard it. She felt her body moving backwards and for a while she was just flying, looking up at the clear blue jordanian sky. Floating and flying for what felt like hours or days. She felt nothing, until she landed. 

Then she wasn’t floating anymore. Her flight was over and if this had been a commercial flight, the pilot would  _ not _ have received any applause for a smooth landing. 

She looked down and saw blue. A car. She landed on a car. Fuck. In a few days her skin would be a blue as that fucking car. Slowly, she slid off the car and took stock of her injuries. One shoulder definitely dislocated, ribs cracked if not completely broken, likely concussion. The worst were her ears though, the ringing. They don’t tell you about the ringing at the Farm when they talk about bombs going off. They talk about losing hearing entirely, but no one mentions the ringing. 

Or the screams. The screams so agonized and full of pain that you wish that bomb took your hearing. 

Her legs seemed ok, or if they weren’t the adrenaline made it so she didn’t notice. It didn’t matter, she had to move. She had to get away from the sight. Even if she could explain her presence there as being a tourist, which she couldn’t, there could always be a second attack or worse. She couldn’t be found there by anyone. 

She couldn’t see her face, but if you ignore the obviously fucked up shoulder, the rest of her looked ok. 

She walked away. She walked toward the safe house as quickly and inconspicuously as she could. If she just kept moving, she would be fine. She just had to keep moving. 

*** 

As she got further and further from the bazaar, she started to feel her injuries more and more. She needed an evac. Her earpiece was gone, her phone was gone. She had money but that was about it. 

When she finally made it to the safehouse, she found herself quickly ducking into an alley. There were two trucks with armed men outside their safehouse. 

She knew in her gut at that moment, that this was targeted. She’d been made. Or her asset had been made. Either way, she was fucked and she needed to be out of Irbid as soon as possible. For now though, she needed to link up with her team. She made her way to the second safe house. Slowly, because the adrenaline was basically gone and it was all she could do not to burst into tears at every step. 

It was nightfall by the time she made it to the second safe house. She approached cautiously, yet deliberately, so that anyone watching wouldn’t be able to tell she wasn’t supposed to be there. 

She made it inside and it appeared to be untouched. Staying in a safe house after the first was was burned, felt like a really stupid idea. Who was to say this one had not been burned also? Jane didn’t really have another choice though. She needed to get off the street and there was a first aid kit waiting for her there. And a gun. That would offer at least an infinitesimal sense of security, which is desperately needed right now. 

Getting out the first aid kit, she turned her attention to her shoulder. She needed medical help, sooner rather than later. She did remember reading about someone trying to pop a dislocated shoulder back into socket and figured she might as well give it a try. Surely it couldn’t get worse? 

So Jane popped a few painkillers into her mouth and made her way to the bench that was in the apartment foyer. That should do the trick. With her good arm, she pulled the bench further into the apartment, away from the door. She rolled up the cloth medical tape she later planned to use as a sling, and slipped it into her mouth. 

This was going to hurt. She knew that. She couldn’t scream though. If this place was still safe to stay in, she couldn’t risk screaming and arousing suspicion in the neighbors. 

Then, she laid down front first on the bench with her dislocated shoulder just off the side. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and prayed she wouldn’t pass out. With her good arm, she reached under the bench and moved her bad arm perpendicular to the bench. 

She firmly pulled the arm up and forward, groaning into the cloth in her mouth. She kept pulling until she felt the pop. Then she laid there and tried to breathe normally, because fuck that hurt. That hurt worse than when she broke her collarbone in high school. 

Fuck. She couldn’t believe that actually worked. Once she was breathing normally and was sure she wouldn’t pass out if she sat up, she moved off the bench and fixed a make-shift sling for her arm. Then she moved back to the bathroom to clean up the cuts on her hands and face. 

Damn. She’d definitely looked better, but considering she survived a bombing she looked pretty good. 

She found herself looking longingly at the bed. She sighed. There was no time to sleep. She needed to find a way to contact her team or the embassy, someone who could evac her. 

She searched and searched but found no functioning communication equipment here. What the fuck kind of safe house was this? 

She sighed (for the 97 millionth time that day) and ran her hand through her hair. 

Ok. This was ok. She’d been trained for this and she would get herself out of there if she needed to. First, she would wait for the team. If they were alive and able, they would see the primary safe house was compromised and then make their way to her current location. 

That’s a pretty big _ if,  _ though. 

Her only other option would be to get on a bus back to Amman herself. That was doable, but she’d truly been burned then they would probably be watching the bus stations. 

Sitting there. Waiting. Wondering. She laughed when she found herself thinking about Texas. She scoffed. Why was she so unfocused today? Had this all been right under her nose but she was too busy thinking about home to realize? 

Realizing there would probably be no change in her situation tonight, she barricaded herself in the back bedroom and decided to try and sleep. 

  
  


***

Jane woke up the next day and the sun was high in the sky. She guessed surviving a bombing and popping your own shoulder back into its socket was rather tiring. 

She made her way toward the kitchen, hoping to find food or something edible. 

She opened the cupboard and found a stock of MRE’s. She gagged. She absolutely hated MRE’s, but beggars can’t be choosers so she picked the one sounding least nauseating and choked it down. 

After her five-star breakfast, she made her way to the window that faced the street. If she stood at just the right angle, she could see the street without making herself easily visible. Jane pulled up a chair and sat. She sat for hours, watching, familiarizing herself with the comings and goings of the neighborhood. If the team approached, she would see them. If hostiles approached, she would see them too. 

She decided to wait another day, so until two days have passed since last contact with the team. If the team didn’t show, then she would go with the bus plan. 

So she sat and slowly the day passed. 

The next day came and she sat again in her window. It started much the same as the day before. Then around noon, she heard it. Another bomb went off. It couldn’t have been too far away, but it wasn’t all that close either. When it went off, she took cover under the window. 

What did this mean? After she was thinking it was targeted, because of the safe house. But what was this second explosion about? It didn’t fit her theory. 

In the hours after the second bomb, she noticed armed men in trucks driving up and down the streets. She was well and truly fucked now. If they were looking for her, she couldn’t go out in the streets. If they weren’t looking for her as Jane Diaz, but were just looking for foreigners or non-muslims, then she was fucked. She might wear a hijab but couldn’t hide the fact that she didn’t belong, not from people actively looking. 

Another day passed, three days since last contact. Four days since meeting the asset, and five since coming to Irbid. 

The patrols of armed men continued throughout the day, always at different times. At least two more bombs went off. She couldn’t leave. She would just have to wait. Wait and plan a new option. Clearly the team wasn’t coming. Who knows what happened with them. Maybe they were bogged down just like she was. 

Jane feels slightly ashamed to admit it, but as she said in the window watching the world go by she let her mind drift. Usually, she stopped herself. But lately she found herself imagining what life would've been like if she had never joined the CIA. What if she’d actually used that law degree and had a normal job? What if she stayed in the States, joined her family in D.C? She would probably be married, maybe in some kind of relationship or something. Friends. She’d probably have some of those too. 

That was all well and nice to think about, but it was fantasy. If she wanted to stay alive, she needed to stay in reality. 

Lost in her own thoughts, she missed it. She missed a man walking down the street and up into the building she was in, so when there was a knock on the door she just about shit her pants. 

Shit. 

She tried to keep her breathing normal and quiet. She walked as quietly as possible toward the foyer, the gun held tightly in her good hand. She stood just around the corner and waited. She would not open the door. If someone was coming in, they either had a key and were friendly or they were breaking in and were hostile. She would wait and see. 

Sure enough, she heard the lock click. 

A friend then. Surely, it had to be a friend, but she kept her gun raised just in case. 

The door opened and she almost cried in relief. 

There were familiar brown eyes. The same eyes that sat across from her for years. The same eyes that were with her at the Farm. 

It was Aaron. 


	5. Queens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex gets fed, and Henry is educated on the true queen.

In the end, Alex was only able to sleep for a few hours before his stomach woke him up demanding food. The light was gone from the windows, so he guessed it was later in the evening. He took note of the warm arm draped over his waist and the soft puffs of air he felt on the back of his neck. 

Henry. 

Yes, Alex remembered he had arrived earlier in the day. Alex groaned, thinking about the state he was in when Henry found him. Full spiral. Then it all came rushing back. Jane. Jordan. Bombings. He took a deep breath to steady himself and then rolled over to face his boyfriend. 

He loved watching Henry sleep. He never got over it. Alex liked to see the way Henry’s face completely smoothed out, no worried creases or clenched teeth - just complete serenity. What had he done to deserve such a person in his life, who would drop everything at ungodly hours to rush across the ocean despite not even knowing the situation? 

Deciding to take full advantage of being together again at last, Alex burrowed his face into the place where Henry’s neck met his shoulder and hummed, quite satisfied and surrounded by warm and the scent of Henry. 

Alex felt Henry’s arms tighten around him, one hand came up to cradle the back of his head. 

“Hey.” Alex said quietly. 

“Hey, yourself.” Henry kept brushing through his hair the way Alex secretly loved but would never admit (even if Henry was always able to read him like an open book). “Did you sleep well?” 

Alex made a positive noise and let them fall back into silence. They stayed wrapped up in each other just enjoying being together again, even if it wasn’t under ideal circumstances. Only the growling from Alex’s stomach broke the silence, followed by a quiet laugh from Henry. 

“I wondered when that might happen.” Henry joked. 

“Feed me.” 

“Right away, your highness.” Henry mocked and moved to sit up. 

“Noooo. Stay.” Alex tugged him back down.

“What happened to ‘feed me’?” Henry scratched at Alex’s hair, loving the way the soft curls felt on his fingers. “I have to move if you want food, love.” 

Alex sighed, feeling entirely put out by his own stomach’s betrayal. He released Henry from his grasp and they both sat up in the bed. Alex spotted the toast Henry made before their nap. 

“I don’t suppose there’s more where that came from?” Alex nodded toward the toast. 

“You mean my,” Henry looks down at his watch, “four hours old toast isn’t good enough for the First Son?”

Alex smiled. “I’m offended you think it would be.” 

Henry rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s get you fed.” 

Both boys get out of bed and make their way to the kitchen. Alex checks his phone as they walk. No notifications. No calls. Nothing to indicate there was an update. 

In the kitchen they found a note from his mother saying dinner in the fridge and they could heat it up, so they did. While waiting, Alex leaned against the counter trying to organize his thoughts. He knew Henry deserved an explanation. Also, more selfishly, Henry had a way of helping him dissect his thoughts and make sense of them, so he was hoping (praying) Henry would be able to work his magic on the mess inside head. 

Fuck. He forgot to talk to Zahra or his mom. Would he even be allowed to tell Henry? He wasn’t legally family, nor did he have a security clearance. Is this a national security issue? Of course it is, but did that mean he wouldn’t be able to talk to Henry about it. 

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Henry stepping towards him. Henry pulled Alex’s hand away from where it was tugging on his bottom lip. 

“Hey, it’s going to be ok. Let’s eat, and then we can talk.” Henry pulled Alex to the bar where he set their plates and utensils. 

They sat down and started eating. 

“Love,” Henry started, “Zahra found me before when I was making toast. She said to pass on the message that you could tell me whatever is going on. I believe her words were that you could ‘read me in’.” 

“Oh, thank God.” Alex sighed, “I just remember that I forgot to ask and then I freaked out because what if I couldn’t tell you, ya know? There’s no way I could keep this to myself, I just can’t. I don’t know how to -” 

Henry cut him off with a kiss. After all, it was really one of the only sure fire way to get Alex to shut up. 

“Breathe.” Henry said when he pulled away. 

“You know, kissing me actually isn’t the best way to get me to ‘breathe’.” Alex retorted, “Because, when done correctly, there’s not that much breathing involved.” 

Henry rolled his eyes, stupidly fond of his boyfriend. It was so easy for Alex to get lost in Henry. 

Both boys returned to their food, only the sounds of their utensils on the plates breaking the silence. Alex was trying to think of a way to get the conversation started. 

He snorted. How does one explain this sort of cluster-fuck? 

He went with the ‘rip of the band-aid’ method. 

“Jane is a spy. She’s fucking CIA and now she’s missing in Jordan and there’s all sorts of terrorist shit going over there. So basically half of my life is a lie because I believed my sister was some work-a-holic lawyer, who abandoned her family to live the good life in Europe. All the while, she was putting her life on the line running around the world protecting American interests until now when she might actually be dead or something.” 

Henry froze and turned to look at Alex, who kept up his word vomiting of the situation. 

“And do you know what the last thing I said to her was? Do you know?” Alex's tone was starting to drift more toward the hysterical. 

Henry reached out and held on to Alex’s hand, but didn’t keep him from continuing. 

“I fucking yelled at her. I yelled at her for not being there. For missing mom’s first inauguration, for missing her re-election. I remember she said she was sorry. Then that was it. That was the last time I can remember speaking to her.” Alex trailed off. 

“Oh, my love.” Henry squeezed his hand. Henry stood up and pulled Alex toward him, wrapping his arms around Alex's waist. They stood there, holding each other.

Henry pulled Alex back toward Alex’s bedroom and they sat down on the couch with Alex laying on Henry’s chest between out-stretched legs.

“Ok, baby.” Henry started, “ let’s back up a little. Jane is not actually a lawyer?” 

“I mean she is. Technically. She has a juris doctorate. Unless that was all a lie too. I don’t even know anymore.”  Alex couldn’t help but question everything he thought he knew about his sister. Nothing made sense anymore.

“Let me rephrase then. Jane is CIA?” Henry asked, running his hands up and down Alex’s sides. 

“It would seem so. When I got here last night there was a dickhead in a suit in mom’s office, saying all kinds of crazy shit.” Alex huffed. 

“Darling, give me some details please.” 

Alex sighed and recounted all that was said in that mind-fuck of a meeting. Henry listened, giving a supportive squeeze to Alex's shoulder occasionally.

“So now we wait.” he finished. 

Alex looked like he was on the verge of tears again. 

“I cannot imagine all the things you must be feeling now.” And he truly couldn't. He didn't know a lot about Jane, only what Alex had told him, which wasn't all that much. But finding out that your sister isn't who she said she was after _years_? Henry was only truly close to Bea in his family. If he found out she'd been lying to him in the same way, he imagined he would be absolutely gutted. 

Funny enough though, Alex didn’t really know what he was feeling. At first, there was definitely anger at being lied to for so long. Then there was fear that his sister was captured or dead somewhere in the middle east. But most recently, and perhaps most strongly, he felt so fucking guilty. 

“I just can’t get my last words to her out of my head.” 

“Those won’t be your last words to her, Alex. She will be found, and you’ll get to talk to her and ask all your questions.” Henry tried to reassure. They both knew he could be wrong though - that Jane could just as easily be dead as she could be alive. 

“What were you doing when I came in earlier?” Henry asked. “You looked almost rabid.” 

Alex groaned. 

“Being an idiot.” Alex mumbled into Henry’s chest. 

“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that.” Henry laughed, “Was that the great Alexander Claremont-Diaz, first son of the United States of America, future attorney and youngest member of congress,  _ admitting _ that he can be an idiot?” 

“Shhhhhhhhhh” Alex placed a hand over Henry’s mouth. “Don’t be mean, I’m having a moment.” 

Henry kissed the palm that was on his face. 

“I was doing research. Jordan, Syria, terrorism stats. Stuff about CIA officers going missing -” Henry cut him off. 

“No, Alex. Tell me you didn’t.” 

“I did. You know I did. Making questionable decisions is one of my charms.” 

Henry snorted. 

“Anyways, I definitely shouldn’t have, but I didn’t and now I can’t get all the shit I read out of my head.” Alex finished. 

Henry was quiet for a moment. 

“Statistics don’t dictate the outcome of a situation, my love. Yes, they can be predictive based on previous events but they don’t account for every facet of every situation. Jane’s situation is unique. Anything can happen, and by that, I mean anything positive can happen.” 

Alex thought for a moment, and, of course, Henry was right. Of course he was. It didn’t completely lift the anvil of anxiety that had been crushing him for the last 24 hours, but it certainly did help. 

“I love your big dumb brain.” Alex told him. 

“I suppose I’ll take that as a compliment.” Henry laughed. 

They sat together a while longer, just being, just existing in each other’s presence. Soft touches and occasional kisses were pressed into available skin. They were waiting. Waiting together, which Alex found to be infinitely easier than waiting alone. 

“Whatever happens,” Henry broke their comfortable silence, “I’ll be here. Whatever you need, whatever the future looks, you and I will be together. You won’t be alone, you can overcome anything.” 

Alex leaned up and pulled Henry into a fierce kiss, trying to convey all that Henry’s words, Henry’s presence there made him feel. When they pulled away, they exchanged few more chaste kisses before Alex settled his head on Henry’s chest once again. 

After a while, Alex spoke up. “I need to check on June. I feel like I abandoned her in my rush to get out of the meeting last night.” 

“I saw her when I was making toast earlier. She seemed...tired.” 

Alex lifted his phone from its place on the coffee table. 

  
  


_ Hey, where are you?  _

**_Bug_ **

_ In my room with Nora.  _

_ We’re coming.  _

He probably should’ve asked if it was ok, but at that moment he didn’t really care. 

“Come on, let’s go see June.” Alex pulled Henry up off the sofa with him and they walked toward June’s room. 

  
  


***

“Alex and Henry are coming.” June told Nora after getting the messages from her brother. 

They walked in and exchanged hugs and kisses for greetings. Alex and Henry made themselves comfortable on the couch, Henry’s arm around her little brother. 

They were quiet for a moment before Nora spoke up. 

“Wow, what a fucking crew this is.” 

That got them laughing. 

“What even is our life anymore?” Nora kept talking. “I mean, seriously, what the fuck is happening?” 

“My thoughts exactly.” Alex said. 

“You Claremont-Diaz’s couldn’t just be normal, you always have to take up the mantle, fight for god and country and all that.” Nora jibbed. 

“I think fighting for god and country was more his people’s thing.” Alex nodded toward his boyfriend. 

“It’s ‘Queen and Country,’ not ‘God and Country,’ thank you very much.” Henry shot back, “Last I checked you all decided you didn’t want a queen.” 

“The only queen I recognize is ---” Henry cut off Alex.

“If you say Beyonce, I swear to --” 

“I was going to say Selena, fuck you very much!” Alex interrupted, indignantly. 

Before they could continue, there was a knock at June’s door. 

“Come in.” June called. 

The door opened and in walked their mother. 

“There you all are. Oh, hello Henry. Great to see you again.” 

“Hi, Ellen. Lovely to see you as well.” 

“Would you all come with me please? We’ve got news.” was all Ellen Claremont said before she walked back out the door. 


	6. Burned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions and Answers?

Despite her relief at Aaron being the person unlocking the door, she kept her gun raised until the door was firmly closed behind him, only then did she step out into the open. 

“Small world, fancy seeing you here.” She said. 

Aaron practically jumped out of his skin. 

“Fuck, are you trying to give me a heart attack?” He exclaimed. “Feel like pointing your gun away from me?” 

She slowly lowered her weapon. Odd. It seemed like he wasn’t expecting her. Her brain rationalized that he probably just wasn’t expecting her to meet him at the door, weapon aimed and ready. 

“It’s a relief to see you.” He walked further into the apartment, toward her. “The station chief has been warding off calls from Langley non-stop since the first explosion in the bazaar.” 

“Well I’m glad I survived to make the chief’s job a little easier.” she scoffed. 

“How are you? What the hell happened?” Aaron asked as they sat down at the rickety kitchen table. 

“No fucking clue.” She sighed. “I met with the asset, everything was normal until it wasn’t. The first bomb went off, but thankfully I was on the edge of the bazaar so I caught the edge of the blast. Landed on a fucking car.” 

“Why didn’t you go to the primary house?” Aaron asked. 

“It was compromised.” 

“Are you injured?” he asked. 

“Cuts and bruises mostly, maybe a cracked rib. I dislocated my shoulder, but I managed to pop it back in. Has anyone heard from my security team? They were supposed to meet here if things went to shit.” 

“No one’s heard from them. If they’re not here, then they are either hiding out or dead.” 

The “or captured” when unspoken between them, but neither wanted to acknowledge it. Captured by the Jordanians wouldn’t be ideal, but the US has a decent enough relationship with the government that you  _ probably _ would just be declared  _ persona non grata _ and be made to leave the country. But if you were captured by anyone else, well, you were probably better off dead. 

“Shit.” Jane rubbed at her face. 

“It had to be targeted, Aaron. We got made or something. It’s the only way the safe house would've been compromised. Has there been any chatter about all the subsequent bombings or the trucks of armed men patroling the streets?” She questioned him. 

“No, nothing that we can make out. We think it’s fundamentalists that crossed over some Syria, we’ve been hearing more from their side of the border lately, but nothing concrete.” 

It just didn’t make sense. None of it. 

“Do you think your asset was flipped?” he asked. 

“No, she seemed completely normal and the intel she gave was good. There were no suspicious people around, everything was going to plan.” 

Aaron nodded. 

“Why are you just now getting here and how did you know to come here if you were wondering why I wasn’t at the primary house?” she asked him. 

Aaron shifted slightly. 

“The Jordanians have check-points going in and out of the city. It was decided a foreigner coming to the city just after a series of bombings would draw too much attention. And you didn’t send any distress signal, so we assumed you either couldn’t or were laying low.” 

He didn’t answer her question about the safe house. 

“There was no comms equipment here and all mine got fucked in the blast.” she explained. 

“Anyways, what’s the plan? I need to get back to Amman. Get this intel back.” she was ready to get the hell out of that city. 

“We leave tomorrow early. Ah, typical Jane. Did you forget about how you were just blown 50 feet in a bombing? We’ll get you back and straight to a doctor. How did you even pop your shoulder back in yourself?” he tried to joke with her. 

Again, odd. What did he mean 50 feet? She kept her face smooth though. 

“Believe or not, Hollywood gets shit right sometimes. I saw it in a film.” she laughed, keeping up the light mood. 

“Well thank goodness for Hollywood. Come on, let’s eat something. I’m starved.” He walked toward the cabinets. 

Something wasn’t right. Jane didn’t know what. It just felt wrong. She shook her head. No. This was Aaron. Her friend since the Farm, work partner. She was just being paranoid, running on too few hours of sleep and too much adrenaline. 

“Ugh, I fucking hate MRE’s.” he said, realizing their dinner options. 

“Sorry, next time I’ll be sure to go grocery shopping before the bombs start going off.” 

He smiled over his shoulder. 

“What’ll it be, chicken chunks or beef taco?” He held up two packages. 

“Make whatever you want. I’m not all that hungry, I ate one earlier.” 

“Ah, come on. Have dinner with me. You need to keep your strength up. I’ll make both and we’ll share.” 

“Nah, it’s ok really.” 

“I insist.” he turned around and started preparing the food - if you could really call it that. 

They tell you at the Farm to trust your gut. Usually, it’s right. Well her gut was telling her that Aaron was keeping something from her, but she couldn’t figure out what. Everything just felt wrong. From his arrival, to his questions, to insisting she eat, it just didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like the Aaron she knew. 

She got up from the table and went toward her seat at the window. She could see a vehicle parked just down the block. It was Aaron’s. She’d seen it at the US Embassy compound before. Not Aaron’s personally, but a car that belonged to the agency. A small SUV with Jordanian plates, so you wouldn’t realize it was a government vehicle just by looking at it. 

Aaron announced that dinner was served and she went back to the kitchen. Two plates were on the table, each with half of a chicken chunk MRE and half of the beef taco. He really was serious about sharing she supposed. 

“Wow, chef, it looks delightful, and on the finest china, too.” she joked. 

“Anything for you, my dear.” 

They started to eat, Aaron first and then Jane. She mostly poked at her food, shifting it around the plate, and occasionally lifting her fork to her mouth only to ask a question or say something and then put it down while he was distracted responding to what she said. The conversation flowed, just like it would if they were back in Amman, just like if everything was normal. But it wasn’t. She just needed to keep up the pretenses until she could figure out what her gut was trying to tell her. 

“You’ve barely eaten.” he remarked. 

“Eh, I told you I wasn’t all that hungry. I had enough though. Give my compliments to the chef. Beef taco truly is the superior MRE.” 

“And here I thought your Mexican heritage would have you scoff at what the military tries to pass as a “taco”? He retorted. 

“I’m full of contradictions.” she replied. 

They cleaned up from dinner, or Aaron did. Jane tried to help but she wasn’t of much use with her ribs and her shoulder. 

After he finished, they poured over some maps Aaron brought out of his bag, plotting the best route out of the city the next day. They wanted to avoid smaller checkpoints. The guards at the small checkpoints had too much time on their hands. They would spend too long looking at their papers, because they had nothing else to do. It was riskier going to a bigger checkpoint, but the guards at the busy ones were usually so swamped they only offered a cursory glance at your papers before waving you on. 

“You must be getting tired.” Aaron said. “I know I am. Let’s call it a night so we can get rolling early tomorrow.” 

She agreed it was a good idea. She retired to the room she’d been calling her own during her time at the safe house, and Aaron went to the spare that was further back in the apartment. 

She waited until she couldn’t hear him moving around any more before going back to the kitchen. She opened up the map again, so if Aaron came out she could say she was restless and just going over their route again. 

In reality, she was going to figure what the hell was going on. She found his bag and quietly started digging. She found clothes, another map, money, and passports. Why was he carrying all this for a simple evac trip to bring her back to Amman? It’s not unheard of, per se, but it was unusual to carry so many passports at once. Sure, they were useful, but if the wrong person found them you were completely fucked. No, it was better to have one good forged document than several. 

Then she found a phone. It was identical to the phone Aaron had used earlier. Having two phones wasn’t all that unusual either. She turned it on. It was locked. She wouldn’t be getting anything off that. 

For a moment, she felt bad for digging through her friend's things. He’d been nothing but a good co-worker and friend, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being shady. In the bag she found his gun too. She ran her fingers along the seams in the bag and checked all the pockets, but found nothing that couldn’t be explained by the fact that Aaron was a CIA officer, just like she was. 

She put everything back the way it was and stealthily made her way back to her room. She shut the door and went to sit on her bed. Then she heard muffled speaking. It became clearer and clearer as Aaron moved into the kitchen. He wasn’t all the quiet. Jane briefly thought back to the Farm, and remembered Aaron had always struggled with being stealthy, which is part of the reason she did most of the field work in their partnership. 

He was speaking quietly into the phone pressed against his ear. Late night phone calls were normal, part of life as a CIA officer. What surprised her though, was that Aaron was speaking Pashto. In the world they lived it, CIA officers often spoke multiple languages. She, for example, spoke four. English, Spanish, Arabic, and Farsi. Her Pashto was ok, but she was still learning, she was maybe at an elementary level. 

Aaron wasn’t supposed to be able to speak Pashto. It wasn’t in his file, and she would know if he was learning through the appropriate channels because he was her fucking partner. Pasto was not a language he was supposed to be able to speak. And who the fuck was he speaking to? 

She listened closely, trying to make out what he was saying. 

_ No ----- alive. At second house ---- says she -----.  _

She cursed her limited knowledge, but it sounded like he was speaking about her from what she could make out. 

_ We will still -----. She is hurt from the bombing ---- ----- ----- ---- put in her food, she will sleep for a long time.  _

It felt like someone was pouring ice water down her spine. He was talking about putting something in her food, something to make her sleep. 

She needed to move. She needed to get out of there ASAP! 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

She kept listening. 

_ Would not say what the asset was ---- ----. No one knows she is alive. --- ---- team is dead. I killed them in --- ---- north of the bazaar.  _

She slammed her hand over her mouth to keep from making a sound. Her team. Aaron killed them. AARON. Aaron, who was like a lovably goofy puppy killed fellow agents. She felt herself start to hyperventilate. 

No. She couldn’t freak out. She had to keep her head, if she didn’t there was no way she could escape. 

She took deep breaths. She found she could still hear him speaking, he clearly thought she ate enough of whatever he put into the food, because he was making almost no effort to be quiet. 

_ We planned --- ---- checkpoint on the north -- of Irbid. Not the way to Amman because we are ---- miss the busy checkpoints south.  _

He stopped talking briefly, listening to whoever was on the other line. 

_ Yes, attack car ---- cross border ---- Syria. Take her --- I’ll go back to Amman, say I never found ----. Think she’s dead.  _

  
  


He was going to give her up. Were there Pashtuns in Syria? That didn’t make any sense. ISIS was largely made up of Arab fundamentalists with a foreign minority. Unless, members of the IS-Khorasan were behind it, coordinating out of Syria. 

It still didn’t make sense. What would IS-K or even ISIS want with her. Ok, sure a captive CIA officer would give them a point of leverage maybe get them some ransom money, but why her? Why go through the trouble of the bombings and the street patrols, and flipping  _ Aaron  _ of all people. 

Unless…

No. None of it made sense unless she’d been discovered as being the president’s daughter. Damn. Talk about leverage. Aaron didn’t know about her though, or she thought he didn’t. She was realizing, however, that she didn’t really know all that much about Aaron after all. 

Then she heard footsteps coming toward her door. Shit. She quickly got under the blanket and pretended to sleep. No, Aaron couldn’t know that she knows. If she wanted to get out of this, she had to play along. At least for now. 

She heard the door open and the footsteps get closer. She schooled her face to be blank. No matter what she heard him say or what she was thinking, she had to appear to be asleep. The footsteps stopped at the bed. It took all her training to keep her from shouting out or moving her face when he pressed, not so gently, into her cracked ribs. It was like her entire side was on fire, and there was a constant stream of curses running through her mind. 

She must have been successful in her efforts to appear asleep, because she heard him start talking again. 

_ Definitely asleep, poked at one of her ---- didn’t move. She’s out.  _

He turned around and walked back out of the room. She didn’t hear the door latch, so she remained ‘asleep’ as he continued talking in the kitchen. 

_ Yes, we leave in the morning. Wire the money -- we will after it is in my -----.  _

So that’s all it took. He sold out his country, his friend, for cash. Part of her had hoped it would be because of some hidden fundamentalist or anti-American sentiments, but no, it was money. 

_ Good. We will talk -----. I will sleep now.  _

He ended the call and Jane heard Aaron place something on the table and heard footsteps heading back to the other bedroom. 

She waited, waited until she heard no more movements from Aaron’s side. It felt like hours, but who knows. She knew that she needed to move though, the sky was just barely beginning to lighten and if she waited any longer, then she risked Aaron waking up. 

Quietly, she slipped out of the bed and made her way into the kitchen. She grabbed Aaron’s phone off the table and the one out of his bag. She would take those with her for evidence. She also grabbed the keys to the vehicle and the map. She was leaving for Amman now, and with any luck, she would be back at the Embassy before Aaron even woke up. 

She had to briefly say thank the universe that Aaron was clearly so confident that he’d successfully drugged her, because otherwise there’s no way he would’ve left the keys and his phone out. 

Now she had to think about getting out. The front door was loud and she couldn’t risk waking him up. She went back to the bedroom and looked out the window. There was no fire escape on her building, but there was a ledge on the adjacent building that she might be able to use. If she jumped out of her window and onto the ledge, she should hopefully go down the stairs of that building and walk out the front door. 

It was risky though. One of her arms was pretty much useless and her ribs hurt like a hell, no thanks to Aaron’s poking. She stood there, looking at the ledge and decided to go for it. The longer she stood there, the more she risked overthinking it. 

She took a deep breath and she jumped. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed. :) xx 
> 
> Just for reference: 
> 
> IS-Khorasan (IS-K) is this ISIS branch operating our of Central and South Asia, especially active in the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. 
> 
> Pashto is the language spoken by the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, the Pashtuns, who make make up many members of the Taliban and other fundamentalist groups in the region.


	7. Good Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane's escape continues.

It took every ounce of willpower Jane had not to cry out when she landed on the ledge. The jolt to her ribs and shoulder was agonizing. She stood there for a moment, catching her breath and planning her next move. She was going to have to use her arms, both of her arms, to pull herself up onto the roof of the building. She stretched and experimentally moved her shoulders. Everything seemed to be moving ok, but would she be able to hold her own weight? She had to try. 

She gripped the upper ledge of the building and hopped a little to try and help herself. She managed to get her chin and one elbow over the ledge using her good arm. She was stuck now though, she would need to use her other one to finish the job. 

She pushed up with all her might and managed to get her torso over the ledge before she felt the tell-tale pop of her shoulder giving out. Barely holding in her scream, she rolled onto the roof of the building and laid there for a few moments, breathing. 

Staring up at the sky, she noticed that you could almost see the stars through all the smog and dust from Irbid. 

Or maybe she was just seeing stars because of the shooting pain in her shoulder. She didn’t have time to find a bench and pop it back in, so she was just going to have to deal with it. Ideally, in the next 90 or so minutes she would be back in Amman and someone with actual medical experience could help. But for now, she would give herself 3 minutes to just lay there breath. 

She wondered what time it was on the East Coast. By now, her family had most likely been alerted that she was missing. What did they think? Had her mom even told them or would she wait until there was news as to whether she was dead or alive? 

Shaking her head, she got up. It wouldn’t do her any good to think about that now. Get back to Amman, then she could do all the thinking she wanted. She looked back at the safe house one more time. It looked quiet, no obvious movement from Aaron to indicate he was awake or aware she was gone. Good. 

She made it to the door on the roof and prayed to every deity she could think of that the door would be unlocked. To her immense shock, it was. For the first time in days, the universe was smiling on her instead of trying to fuck her. 

She quickly made her way down the stairs to the ground floor. She peeked her head out into the street to check for any other people out and about. The streets were blissfully empty so she walked calmly to the car, unlocked it and got in. 

She started to drive south, toward the highway that would take her back to Amman. She couldn’t go with their original route, she didn’t know what the signal would be for the attackers. Maybe they were just waiting to see the car, so she went south. 

Driving through the streets, she started to see more and more people as she got closer to the main roads. Thankfully, no one seemed to give her a second glance. She drove until she reached a checkpoint at the on-ramp to the highway. 

Her hijab helped somewhat to hide her shoulder, so she rolled up to the officer and tried to put on a friendly face. He looked at her documents and walked around the vehicle. Thankfully, she was right about the guards at the large checkpoints, because he quickly waved her through so he could move on to the next vehicle in line. While the Jordanians really tried to make their country safe and reassure citizens and tourists through a large police presence, guards were still humans, just trying to get through their shifts. This is a fact that Jane was grateful for as she pulled onto the on-ramp. 

When she was on the highway, she felt like she could breathe for the first time since the bomb went off in the bazaar. She felt like she could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but not in the you’re-almost-dead kind of way, more in the you-fucking-won kind of way. As she drove, she kept her eyes alert for anyone who might be following her. She hadn’t seen anyone yet, but she wasn’t safe until she was behind the walls of the U.S. Embassy compound. 

The hour and half drive was cut down a little thanks to the earliness of the hour meaning less traffic and the fact that she was *cough* speeding, but only a little. She didn’t think that Aaron had any way to contact the U.S. Embassy because she took his phones and there was no communication equipment in the safe house, but she didn’t want to take chances. Who knows what he could call and tell them if he’d found she’d escaped! 

As she kept driving, she turned on the radio. A happy song filtered through the speakers and she couldn’t help but start to laugh, laugh at the absolute insanity that was the current state of her life. Thirty minutes ago she’d been jumping out of buildings, re-dislocating her shoulder, and stealing a car and now she’s speeding down the highway bopping along to the radio. She smiled to herself and kept driving. 

She almost started crying when she saw the familiar gates of the Embassy. The guard, one she recognized, was surprised by the state of her appearance but waved her through nevertheless. She parked the car, gathered Aaron’s phones and the map, and made her way into the building. 

*** 

It was kind of funny just walking into the building after being MIA, but what else was she supposed to do? She walked in and made her way directly to the station chief’s office. It was about 8:30 when she got out of the car, so he might be there already. She walked past the few officers who were already in for the morning, ignoring their calls and questions. 

She knocked on the chief’s door and opened it when she heard “come in.” 

“Holy shit, Jane!” He jumped up from his chair. 

“Good Morning.” She said smiling, although she was pretty sure it came off as more of a grimace. 

“Seriously? Good Morning? You’ve been gone for days and that’s what you start with?” 

She shrugged. 

“Jesus,” he moved around the desk and pulled out a chair, “Sit down. Sit down.” 

She did as told and couldn’t hold back the wince. Now that she was safely back in Amman, her adrenaline was  _ gone  _ and she felt every cut, scrap, and crack on her body. 

“Are you hurt? I’m calling medical.” he said before she could answer. Sure enough he called and was told a medical officer would come immediately. 

“What the hell happened, Jane? We’ve been worried sick. And where the hell is Aaron, he was supposed to be with you?” 

She laughed. “Aaron? Oh, boss. We’ve got a lot to talk about.” Jane pulled out the phones and map. 

He looked at her questioningly. 

“Aaron betrayed me, betrayed us. He killed my security team who were separated from me after the blast in the bazaar. The primary safe house was compromised, and I can only assume that was Aaron’s doing.” The boss looked shocked, but didn’t interrupt her. 

“He seemed surprised when he found me in the secondary house. He was acting odd, I could tell right away. He tried to drug me but thankfully I didn’t eat the food he prepared. He didn’t realize that though, because he called someone on this phone,” she pointed to one of the phones, “and was speaking to them in Pashto.” 

“Aaron doesn’t speak Pashto.” the chief interrupted and Jane had to roll her eyes, because of  _ all  _ the things Jane said, that’s what he decided to comment on. 

“Well apparently he does, and it’s better than mine. You know, I’m still pretty low-level, but I could make out a good chunk of what he was saying. I heard him admit to killing the team, attempting to drug me, and he confirmed plans to have our vehicle ambushed as we left the city. 

He said that his plan was to let them take me, and then report back to you that he never found me. That I was dead.” 

“Holy shit.” the chief whispered, gobsmacked. 

“Anyways, I escaped and I don’t think he realized I was gone. Although he has probably realized now though. I’m hoping we can find something on his phones. Something that might explain.” She said. 

“Aaron fucking Smith, a traitor.” the chief sighed. 

Then a knock came from the door. It was the medical officer. 

“You called for someone from medical?” He said when he came in. 

“Yes, that would be for me.” Jane replied. 

The medical officer got to work on Jane’s injuries, his primary concern being her shoulder. 

As he poked around, he asked “Have you dislocated this shoulder before?” 

“Well, you see it was first dislocated in the bomb blast but I was able to pop it back into the socket.” Jane saw the chief wince from where he was watching in the opposite chair. “But then, this morning I dislocated it again trying to pull myself up onto a roof.” 

The chief’s eyes bugged out at that. “What were you doing on a roof?”

“Uh, escaping my partner turned traitor who was trying to hand me over to a yet-to-be-identified terrorist group.” she said. 

“I see your experience did nothing to tamper down your sarcasm.” 

“Not a chance.” she laughed, and it felt good to joke around with the chief. She’d known him for years, almost the entire time she’d been at the Company. He was a good man, and an exemplary officer. He never treated her any differently after finding out who her mother is. 

As they were talking the medical officer continued his exam of her shoulder. 

“So what do we ---- SHIT.” she gasped and felt herself fold over in pain. The medical officer, taking advantage of her distraction while conversing with the chief, popped her shoulder back into the socket. She clenched her eyes and mouth shut, trying to breathe through it. 

The medical officer got her situation in a sling. “That should be ok for now, but you need to see a doctor as soon as possible. We need to scan that shoulder and your ribs. You might need surgery on the shoulder to help repair the ligaments and tendons after the damage from the repeated dislocations and strain.” 

Jane nodded and agreed that she would go after being debriefed. The medical officer left after saying he would alert the doctor on call that she was coming. 

When they were alone again the chief sighed and rubbed his face, “Your mother is going to murder me.” 

“You and me both, I believe.” Jane said. 

“Do you think Aaron knew? That he somehow found out and that’s why he was going to hand you over?” the chief asked. 

“I wouldn’t know. He didn’t mention anything about it when he was on the phone.” Jane said. “Maybe we’ll find out more when we look into his phones.” 

The chief sighed again. 

“I’m so sorry this happened to you, Jane.” 

She shrugged. She was sure there would be many therapy sessions in her future, but in that moment she pushed it all to the back of her brain, compartmentalizing so she could finish the job at hand. 

“Let’s get your statement and then get you down to the doctor. Once the doctor gives his report, I’ll call Langly so they can inform your family. Unless you’d rather call them yourself?” he offered. 

She shook her head. She wasn’t ready. Maybe it was cowardly, but she wasn’t ready to talk to them yet, to face them and try to explain everything. She needed answers first, about what was going on, and what this could mean for her going forward. 

“Ok then, let's get into an interview room and get your statement.” 

Jane gave an official recorded statement of her ordeal and of Aaron’s betrayal. When they were finished, the chief reported Aaron to Langley and he was put on the No-Fly list. A team was then dispatched to his last known location to pick him up and bring him in for questioning. 

Deep down, Jane didn’t think they would find him. If she was a betting woman, she’d bet that as soon as he realized she was gone and that he took his phones, he’d be in the wind. He had to know he’d been burned. 

Jane made her way down to the medical department and saw the doctor. Sure enough, a few of her ribs were cracked with one fully fractured. They didn’t recommend surgery on her shoulder at this point, but she would be in that sling for a long time and she would have to do physical therapy to rebuild strength in her tendons. After leaving medical with a bottle of painkillers, she went back up to her office.

She opened the door and looked at the empty space. Four desks with no one sitting at them. She sat down at her own and looked over at the two empty desks to her right, her security team. Dead. Gone. Never coming back to sit at those desks. She felt herself start to cry, only now letting herself feel their loss. They were good co-workers, the closest things to friends she had. Then she looked at the desk directly across from her. 

Aaron’s desk. Memories of her and Aaron working together through the years came rushing back. Smiles and jokes shared over nearly a decade of knowing each other. The longer she looked at it, the faster her sadness at the death of her security team transformed into anger at Aaron’s betrayal of them all. It felt wrong for his desk to be in the same room as theirs. He was the reason her team would never get to go back to their families. He was the reason her asset and all those other people in the bazaar were killed. He and his memory were stained with their blood. 

She grabbed the trash can under her desk when she started to dry heave. Nothing came out. She’d barely eaten in so long, there was nothing to come out. Still, she sat there clutching her trash can, resting her forehead against the rim. 

Her phone started to ring and she knew she needed to answer it. 

“Diaz.” she answered. 

“Jane,” it was the chief. “If you’re finished with medical I need you to come to my office. We need to discuss next steps.” 

She agreed and hung up the phone. 

Jane took a moment to check her appearance in the mirror hanging on the wall. She definitely needed a shower, and she rubbed at her cheeks trying to make the tear tracks disappear. Sighing, she turned to face the empty room, shook her head, and walked out the door. 


	8. Dumpster Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The many sides of Ellen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments, kudos, and support you all are giving this fic. It's really exciting and making me smile! 
> 
> Enjoy the next chapter. 
> 
> :) xx

Ellen Claremont considered herself a patient woman. One cannot be a Democrat from Texas and not develop some level of patience. However, when it came to her children, or rather, the welfare of her children, the same cannot be said. 

Despite running the risk of sounding cliche, Ellen was a momma bear, and if anyone * _anyone_ * threatened her cubs, well, they better pray that she never finds them. Oh sure, she might give them a 24-hour head start, but that’s more of a grace period for them to get their affairs in order, it won’t help in the end. She will find them, and presently she has the might of the United States of America at her disposal to help. Because, in the end, even the threat of a congressional censure or, heaven-forbid, a vote for impeachment meant nothing if one of her kids was in danger. 

When she found out about her eldest child’s chosen occupation, she was … conflicted. See, there were two sides to Ellen Claremont, the mother and the president. Sometimes they got along in perfect harmony, other times they certainly did not. Finding out her eldest daughter’s chosen profession was the first test for Ellen’s two sides after winning her first election. President Claremont was proud to know that such capable individuals were dedicating their lives to serving their country. She may not have known about her daughter’s career, but if she knew anything about Jane, it was that she wouldn’t do something unless she was absolutely brilliant at it. Now, Ellen Claremont, mother of three, was a little bit of a different story. Sure, she was proud that her daughter chose a career that would make her happy. However, Ellen Claremont was _overwhelmingly_ terrified for her daughter. She didn’t like not knowing about her daughter’s whereabouts when she could be in harm's way. Nope, Ellen Claremont, mother of three, hated it. Hate isn’t even a strong enough word to describe how she felt. Of course, she could easily find out all that her daughter was up to if she wanted. She was the president after all. However, President Claremont promised that she wouldn’t abuse her power, so Ellen Claremont, mother of three, would just have to deal with it. 

Getting a call from Zahra saying that Jason Arnolds, her Liaison to the CIA, needed a meeting urgently didn’t immediately raise alarm bells. She was the President, and such meetings were entirely normal. However, when Arnolds entered the Oval Office, she wondered how that man could have ever been a spy. She saw right through his pathetic excuse of a poker face the second he walked through the door. Something was wrong. 

Arnolds’ one redeeming quality that Ellen could discern in that moment was he didn’t beat around the bush. Some might think him too blunt, not Ellen though. 

“Your daughter, Jane Diaz, has gone MIA. She’d been on an op in Irbid, north of Amman and close to the Syrian border. We’ve lost contact with her team and with her following an explosion in the bazaar. That’s all the intel we have at this time. Once it calms down a bit, her partner will go looking. However, right now it’s too busy to send anyone into the city.” Arnolds had told her. 

MIA. Missing in action. In Ellen’s opinion, such words were almost worse than finding out a loved one was dead. Those words left the person receiving them hanging off the edge of a cliff. Your loved one might be alive, and you might be pulled back to the safety of solid ground. Or they could die and you would fall to your own metaphorical death. However, until you find out one way or another, you’re just stuck hanging there. Waiting to live, waiting to die, completely stripped of any control over your own future. 

Not quite harder than hearing the news herself, but still one of the most difficult times in her life was having to inform the rest of the family. She briefly considered waiting to tell the family until there was further word, but she almost immediately squashed that line of thinking. They had been left in the dark long enough, and it was immensely unfair to keep such a thing from them. 

First, she called her ex-husband to the White House. He should know first that his daughter was missing. She was sure the fact that she’d kept this secret for so long would be another point of contention between them, but she hoped that he would save any arguments for a day she didn’t feel like bursting into tears. He took the news surprisingly well. Ellen believed he was compartmentalizing, choosing to focus on the fact that his daughter was in danger instead of thinking about how he’d been lied to for so many years. 

Then they had to wait for Alex to fly down from New York. Her only son was very close to Jane growing up. She knew they’d drifted apart over the years, and felt somewhat guilty that she knew why while he did not. 

He took the news in a very “on brand” way - as the kids would say these days. June as well. She was pretty quiet, preferring to let Alex ask all his questions. Ellen knew she would need to check on June later on, make sure she was ok. Alex left the meeting rather abruptly, Ellen assumed he was going to call Henry. She was thankful that he would have someone to help him through this, whatever the outcome may be. 

After almost a full day since Arnold’s initial brief, the man returned to the Oval Office. Again, Ellen felt that she really should look into the training and qualifications required to be an employee of the CIA, that man’s inability to hide his thoughts and emotions was, in her opinion, a matter of national security. In this instance, however, she was grateful. Whatever he was going to tell her, she was almost certain that her daughter was not dead. He might not have good news to share, but she was fairly certain that it wouldn’t be news of death. 

She spoke with him briefly, before deciding this would be better for the family to hear as a whole. Thankfully this time it would easier to muster the troops as they were all in the same building for once. She sent out texts to Leo and Oscar, and she went to find her children herself. Alex’s room was slightly concerning. It looked like a tornado came through and scattered paper over every available surface. She then went to June’s room, where she found everyone and also Henry, who’d somehow managed to arrive without her realizing. 

They exchanged brief hellos before she asked them to follow her, explaining that she had news to share. 

***

Alex, Henry, Nora, and June followed Ellen Claremont out of June’s bedroom and into the sitting area in the Residence. June and Nora sat together on a couch, while Alex and Henry piled together on a loveseat. 

Alex didn’t feel like being separated from the one person keeping him grounded even for a moment, so he chose to ignore June’s and Nora’s smirks at the sight of their two large frames squished together. 

“I can’t feel my hand, love.” Henry whispered in Alex’s ear. Alex looked down, and sure enough, he was clutching Henry’s larger hand with white knuckles. 

“Sorry.” he released his grip and went to let go entirely, but Henry stopped him, hanging on to his hand and bringing their intertwined fingers to his mouth for a quick kiss. 

“If you two are finished, I’ve got news.” Ellen got their attention. Henry blushed and started to apologise but Alex interrupted. 

“Well, mom, I was waiting on you to finish setting up. Surely, there will be a powerpoint. How are we to ever get the full picture without detailed slides?” Alex quipped back. 

“Don’t worry, dear, there will be plenty of slides in your future. However, I feel that even you, a lowly law-student-to-be, can get the picture without a slideshow this time.” 

Alex may have a sharp wit, but his mother matched him for every syllable. 

“Hey!” he started, but was interrupted when his mother kept talking. 

“I received word from Mr. Arnolds shortly before. Jane was found, or rather she returned to the U.S. Embassy in Amman. Right now, they are getting official statements and determining what exactly happened before it will be decided what information is classified and what I can share with you.” 

Ellen saw Alex’s mouth open, surely to protest the thought that he might be kept in the dark about something, but she held up her hand and kept talking. 

  
  


“I am told that she was injured pretty severely but will make a full recovery. She will be on a plane shortly after wrapping up her debrief in Amman. The CIA has made plans for her to come back to D.C. However, she will be staying in an apartment in Georgetown. It is too dangerous to bring her to the White House until it’s decided how she will move forward in career at the CIA.” 

That last sentence brought some confused looks her way. 

“What do you mean ‘until it’s decided how she will move forward in her career at the CIA’?” June asked. 

“I can’t go into too much detail. Frankly, because I don’t have the details. I was informed that Jane’s security situation could potentially change, which will affect what she can or will do in the future.” 

“But why can’t she come here? Surely, the White House is the most secure building in this country.” Alex argued. 

“Yes, this is an extremely secure building. But I don’t think they’re worried about physical security, Alex. They don’t want her face in the press, because that could be extremely dangerous for Jane.” 

“When can we see her then?” Alex was quite obviously trying to keep his emotions in check. 

“We’ll try to arrange something as soon as possible.” Ellen told him. 

Alex huffed and sighed. Even with his sister coming back to the states, it still felt like she was being kept away from them. He understood, sure, but it didn’t make it any easier. Part of him realised that his brain wouldn’t let him relax until he saw her with his own two eyes, until he could be sure without all the ‘that’s classified’ or ‘they’ll let us know’ bullshit that his sister was truly safe. 

Deciding he was finished with this meeting, he stood up from the love seat and said his goodbyes. 

“Well, when the powers that be decide we can finally see a member of our own fucking family, you know where to find me.” he said as he swiftly walked out of the room. 

The rest of the family watched him go, and even Henry sayed in the love seat. 

“I know this is hard on you all. It’s a lot of information to process, but we’re doing the best we can. It’s a pretty unique situation.” Ellen said to the remaining people in the room. 

June and Nora nodded. 

“How are you, Mom?” June asked. 

“Oh, darlin’, I’m handling it. I’ll feel better when I can get my eyes on her.” Ellen said. It was clear in her voice that she was holding back a little, probably wanting to reassure her children. 

Nora and June nodded again. 

“I’ll let you know as soon as I get more information, but for now, I’ve got to get back to the West Wing. We’re talking with the Jordanian government about this unusual terrorist activity on their border.” Ellen said with a demure smile. 

“Without mentioning that your daughter was there, I’m assuming.” Nora said. 

Ellen nodded, “You got it. I get to pretend all this is happening a world away, and not like it’s sitting in my own living room.” 

“Good luck. Love you, mom.” 

“I love you, too, darlin’.” 

The mother and daughter stood up and pulled each other in for a tight hug, then Nora joined in. 

“You better get in here, Henry. You’re part of this dumpster-fire now, too, ya know.” Nora announced. 

Henry smiled and got up to join the impromptu group hug. 

Once they separated, Henry went off to find his boyfriend, while June and Nora went back to June’s room to resume whatever it was they were doing before Henry and Alex barged in earlier. 

Henry found his boyfriend standing at one of the windows in the East Bedroom. He walked up behind his short (although Alex would debate until he was blue in the face that 5’9” was _average_ ) boyfriend and wrapped his arms around Alex’s trim waist. Alex immediately relaxed into Henry’s embrace. Henry pressed a kiss into the soft curls on the side of Alex’s head. 

“Penny for your thoughts.” Henry said quietly. 

“I assure you, baby, my thoughts are worth far more than pennies.” 

“Good thing the Crown’s treasury has a healthy bottom line. Talk to me, Alex.” 

“Believe me, if I could find the words, I would.” Alex sighed and paused. “I just feel so frustrated. I’m tired of feeling like I’m only getting a fourth of the information.” 

Henry hummed. “I would be surprised if you weren’t frustrated.” 

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m so fucking relieved she’s alive. I couldn’t - I don’t want to think about the alternative. I can’t - I’m not ready to deal with that.” Alex kept talking. “But what do we do now? Are we just supposed to go back to how it was before? Jane galavanting around the world like a freaking super spy while we all stay here twiddling our thumbs waiting for her to drop us a breadcrumb of news? I can’t do that, not now that I know the truth.” 

“I don’t think things will be the same, Alex. I don’t know what the future looks like, but I can’t see things going back to how they were. I don’t think anyone could expect any of you to pretend this never happened. You’ll have to re-learn each other, figure out a new normal that works for all of you.” 

“ ‘Us’, you mean.” Alex turned around in Henry’s arms. “Like you said, we don’t know what the future will look like, but there’s one part of the future that’s crystal clear. You and I together. That’s our future.”

Alex wormed his arms around Henry’s neck, hands scratching at the short hair on the nape of his neck. 

“Of course, love. You’re right, that is one part of the future that is set in stone.” 

“Damn straight.”

Henry snorted, laughing “straight?”

Alex thumped him on the back of the head. “Shut up, don’t ruin the moment.”


	9. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane does some thinkin' and some drinkin'.

_From Chapter 7 at the U.S. Embassy in Amman:_

_Her phone started to ring and she knew she needed to answer it._

_“Diaz.” she answered._

_“Jane,” it was the chief. “If you’re finished with medical I need you to come to my office. We need to discuss next steps.”_

_She agreed and hung up the phone._

_Jane took a moment to check her appearance in the mirror hanging on the wall. She definitely needed a shower, and she rubbed at her cheeks trying to make the tear tracks disappear. Sighing, she turned to face the empty room, shook her head, and walked out the door._

  
  
  


***

Figuring that her appearance was as good as it was going to get, Jane left her office and headed toward the Chief’s. Besides, anyone who gave her shit for crying after all that she went through could fuck right off. 

She knocked on the door to be polite despite the door already being open. 

“Come in, come in.” the chief waved her in from where he sat behind his desk, on the phone with someone. 

Based on what Jane caught from the tail end of their conversation, it sounded like he was briefing Washington about the current situation, _her_ current situation. 

“Understood, sir. I’ll convey that to her and get back to you. You have my word that she’ll be on a plane before the day is over.” He hung up the phone. 

“Well. First, the DCI wants to offer his thanks for your service and appreciates you uncovering a mole for us.” 

Jane laughed. “Glad I could help. But seriously, ‘thanks me for my service’? It sounds like he’s firing me.” 

The chief didn’t laugh. 

“What? Seriously? You mean I survive --” 

“No, no. You’re not fired, not at all. But there will be changes. I’m told that your current situation, even if Aaron didn’t know about your relationship to the president is no longer operational. No more ops for you.” 

_This is it,_ Jane thought. _I’m about to get stuck behind a desk for the rest of my life._

“The DCI isn’t exactly sure what your new position will be. However, it’s clear that you will be going back to Washington for good. No one wants you risking your life, or the lives of others, if there is even the slightest potential there could be a target on your back.” the chief explained.

Jane nodded because of course she understood. She didn’t want anyone else to get killed because of her. She already had the blood of her security team and all those innocent people at the bazaar on her hands. It was already going to take a lifetime of therapy to deal with that, so she best not add anymore to her tally. It was still a hard pill to swallow, though. She liked going out into the field, she craved it. It made desk-days tolerable. 

“For now, you’re going to get on a plane to D.C. and you’ll be taken to an apartment in Georgetown. Less potential for exposure should the DCI reconsider and allow you into the field. Don’t want to risk getting photographed at the White House.” 

Jane felt herself continuing to nod. Again, everything he said made perfect sense despite it being yet another hard pill to swallow. She’d be the closest she’d been to her family in years and yet she still couldn’t be with them. 

“Got it. When are wheel’s up?” she asked, ready to end the conversation. 

“As soon as you can get to the airport. There’s a plane waiting.” the chief told her. “We’ll have someone pack up your belongings and ship them to you. Anything you need urgently we can get right now.” 

“No, that’s alright. My phone got fucked in the blast, nothing else is really that important.” 

It made her a little sad to think about the state of her life. She wasn’t really a materialistic person, but she thought it quite pathetic that of all the things she owned, she had no real attachment to them. Nothing held any sentimental value. 

“Well let’s get you home then. Oh, and I didn’t speak with the President directly, but I did speak with her liaison to the Company. They know minimal details. Anything about your physical condition will be up to you to disclose. We’ll try to nail down what other details you might be able to disclose to your family while you’re in on the plane. Your mother of course, can be told in full.” 

“Got it.” 

The chief and Jane stood up and shook hands. 

“It’s been good having you here, Jane. You’re one of the brightest officer’s we’ve got.” 

Jane smiled, “Thanks, boss. See you eventually.” 

Jane walked out of the office and went directly outside where a government SUV was waiting to take her to the airport. She noticed two new Secret Service guys in the vehicle. 

“Hello, fellas. I’m Jane, nice to meet you.” she greeted them once she was in the car. 

“Likewise ma’am.” was all the response she got before the SUV pulled away from the curb and started the trek to the airport. 

They pulled up on the tarmac and sure enough, there was a small jet waiting for them. This jet was definitely too small to do the whole journey in one go, so she knew they would have to make a refueling stop. 

She sighed, take off and landing were definitely going to be rough on her ribs. Nevertheless, she got out of the vehicle and climbed the steps up into the plane. She made herself comfortable in one of the big cushy chairs toward the rear of the aircraft. There were a few perks to not flying commercial. 

Despite feeling the exhaustion deep in her bones, Jane didn’t sleep. Instead, she thought and she ordered a cocktail. Being unable to turn off one’s brain, was kind of a family trait. Sure, mixing painkillers and alcohol was a terrible idea, but Jane had a terrible day sooooo fuck it? 

Was it worth it to continue at the Company if she couldn’t do what she loved, if she was going to be a danger to others? She just kept thinking about her security team. It was her fault. They don’t get to go home to their families, because she was the idiot who tried to keep pretending everything was normal, like there wasn’t a huge target on her back as the president’s daughter. 

But the fact was, she was the president’s daughter and there was absolutely nothing she could do to change it. She put up with it for so long and for what, a few days of field work, too many failed relationships to name, and the estrangement of her family? She neglected her family for years so as to not risk her face ending up in a tabloid. She wasn’t there for June when her book deals and jobs fell through. She wasn’t there for Alex when he was outed to the world. She simply just wasn’t there. 

Jane ordered another cocktail. 

Was any of it worth it? She was beginning to think it wasn’t. It wasn’t really a new thought, though. She’d thought about what life could be like outside of clandestine operations, but they were always fleeting thoughts. Here one moment and gone when the next intelligence report landed on her desk. Sure, they’d been popping up more and more often in recent months, and she distinctly remembers planning to put in for time off before leaving for the absolute clusterfuck that was ‘Irbid’. 

Jane ordered another cocktail, a double this time. 

What would she even do? That law experience doing international human rights law? It was a cover. Teach? Teach what? She’s got no doctorate or other qualifications to speak of besides her juris doctorate that she hadn’t thought about in years. Hell, she hadn’t even taken the Bar exam before being recruited for the CIA so that was fucking useless. Also, all of her other work experience is classified so her resume is rather… dull. 

She supposed she could just stay with the Company. Shuffle papers back and forth, analyse media reporting and verify intelligence gathered by those lucky enough not to have parents with a public image. Shit. She’d tried so hard not to blame her parents. She was proud of them, both of them, hell, her mother was the first female president of the United States of America. That’s a big fucking deal, huge! And she was fucking proud, dammit! 

But she was also sad, sad about what it meant for her life, her sibling’s lives. Nothing they did was ever going to matter. They would always be the daughter/son of President (eventually former President) Ellen Claremont, first female to hold the highest office in the nation. What made Jane even more sad was the fact that she felt this way at all. She should be proud that her mother is breaking the glass ceiling and changing the world. She should be happy about the potential doors this would open in her own life. However, for the life of her, she could only focus on the doors it closed. 

She scoffed at herself, well beyond tipsy by this point. 

What an ungrateful, whiny asshole she was! Crying over not being about to put herself in danger, and bemoaning that her parents were important individuals in American politics. 

Fuck. She really needed to find a fucking therapist. 

Before she realized what was happening, the lone flight attendant on the jet came to gather her glass and inform her that they’d be landing in France soon to refuel. She supposed time moved faster when one was both drunk and having a crisis. It was only a short while before they were airborne again on the final stretch home. 

_Home_. What was that anymore? 

It certainly wasn’t the sure-to-be dreary Georgetown apartment they were offering her. No, home was her family. It had to be. No place, not even their old home in Texas or the house at Lake LBJ even, felt like home anymore. But her family had to be home. Home was wherever they were. 

Fuck it. Fuck it all. 

She was going to her family. Wherever they were, that’s where she was going. 

***  
  


In retrospect, several hours after it would be too late, Jane would almost certainly regret what she was presently doing. (And she would remember to never mix alcohol and painkillers again)

After she landed in D.C., she asked (coerced) her Secret Service to take her, not to the Georgetown apartment, but to the White House. She was sure that the DCI and the chief would be livid, but honestly, she didn’t care. Her future was up in the air at this point, so what the fuck even mattered anymore? Nothing, that’s fucking what. Nope, she was going to live her life however she damn well pleased and that was that. 

When she rolled up the White House, she remembered that he hadn’t told anyone she was coming. She had no phone, so she didn’t text the Chief or anyone else for that matter. However, she figured that her security detail probably told the powers that be about the change of plans. She didn’t really give a fuck in that moment. 

Her car door was opened and she looked toward the door. There, just inside the eave of the door, stood her mother. She looked tired. Jane couldn’t remember the last time they were together. 

She hesitated for a moment before exiting the vehicle. Fuck. She was really doing this. 

She looked up at the building looming in front of her and laughed a little (before wincing and clutching at her sore ribs), the last time she was at the White House was her fifth grade field trip to Washington, D.C. 

Jane heard the door being closed behind her, but she kept walking toward her mother, who was now walking toward her. 

“Jane?!” Ellen said, rushing out to meet her daughter. “They told me someone important was coming, but they didn’t say it was you!” 

Ellen gently wrapped her daughter into a hug, trying to mind the injuries mentioned in the briefing from Jason Arnolds. 

Jane returned the hug, the first hug from her mother in _years_ . She felt her eyes start to get wet, and decided that it was definitely because her body was aching, _not_ because she felt safe for the first time since she left for Irbid over a week ago. Nope, that definitely wasn’t the reason. 

“Hi.” was all Jane was able to get out. 

“Come in, come in.” Ellen ushered her into the building, leaving one arm wrapped around her daughter’s waist to guide her. 

Standing just inside the foyer, Ellen stood back a little to get a good look at Jane. Jane knew she wasn’t much to look at in her present state. Cuts and scrapes on her face, arm in a sling, and hair so oily that if she went anywhere near the ocean it would be deemed an environmental disaster. She was a mess, and not even a hot mess, just a straight up mess. 

“Why are you here, darlin’? I’m so happy you are, but I was told you would be going to Georgetown.” Ellen asked quietly, cupping Jane’s cheek with a warm hand.

Jane opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She didn’t really have an answer to that question. It was all such a spur of the moment decision fueled by painkillers and alcohol, but there was one thought that rang truer than the rest. 

“I just wanted to come home.” Jane said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, all. Hope you're still enjoying this. So funny story, I had this fic all planned out, color coded notes and the first true outline I've written since freshman year of university probably. However, I have since deviated from that plan as I wrote the story, going with what felt natural as I was writing. 
> 
> The original ending I wrote doesn't really work anymore sooooooooooooooooo I'm still trying to figure that out. Should be fun. In the meantime, I'll just keep writing in whatever direction my fingers take me. Fuck the outline.
> 
> (That last bit about fingers sounds weird, but I totally meant 'typing' so I'll just leave this here.) 
> 
> Any-who, have a lovely have a marvelous day and thanks again for reading this in the first place. 
> 
> xx


	10. National Security

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane and Ellen have a chat.

_ “I just wanted to come home.” Jane said quietly.  _

Ellen nodded and pulled the eldest Claremont-Diaz child in for another hug, cradling her head against her shoulder. 

The two women stood there embracing each other. If anyone asked Jane would never admit it, but realizing that her mother smelled just like she remembered mader her giddy. Was it possible not  _ everything  _ was different now? She breathed in the familiar mixture of her mother’s perfume and the scent of paper, like a new book. 

“Darling, I love you, but, girl, you need a shower.” Ellen laughed and Jane couldn’t help but join her. 

Yeah, that was the understatement of the century. 

“Well if you’re offering…” 

“All in good time. We need to take care of some business first. Might as well get it done. Let’s go to my office.” Ellen guided Jane further into the building, one arm firmly planted around her daughter’s waist. 

Jane knew this was coming. Her mother would undoubtedly want her to hash out every gritty detail of her time in Irbid and about Aaron, and, honestly, she was tired. She wanted that shower that was promised, and a bed. Hell, she’d take a couch at this point. 

She followed the president through the halls, avoiding the gazes of those staffers who were probably slightly confused about who she was and  _ definitely  _ confused about why she was in the arms of the president looking like she got hit by a bus. 

She stood by the door in the Oval Office, slightly unsure of what she should do. This was a place she’d only seen in photos and movies, and she felt out of place. 

“Hey!” Jane was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a man’s shout. 

She turned to look out the door back into the hallway.

“Jane?!” 

There, almost at the other end of the hall, was her brother. The shock was evident on his face, after all, no one expected her to show up there. Could that man really be her baby brother? Seeing him grow up in the public eye meant that she did know what he looked like, but seeing him in person was different. He wasn’t the same kid she left behind when she joined the CIA.

“Jane?!” he practically ran toward the door.

She raised her good hand in a slight wave and smiled a little before a staffer closed the door, ending their reunion before it could really start. Jane still heard him, although it only sounded like muffled murmurs. If Alex was remotely the same as he’d been before, he would surely raise all hell until he was allowed to barge his way into the Oval Office. 

“Sit down, darlin’. I’m sure you're exhausted.” Ellen gestured for her to sit on one of the couches. 

“Thanks.” she sat down, gingerly holding her side. The jet’s landing in D.C. was not exactly smooth, neither was the car ride. 

“Well, let’s talk shop and get it over with.” 

Jane nodded. 

“First, how are you? Broad question I know, but we can start with physically, how are you?” Ellen asked. 

Jane sighed.  _ Here we go. _

“I’m ok, mom. A little banged up, I’m ok.” Jane said. 

“You’ve been away too long, dear, so I’ll forgive your forgetting how we talk to each other in this family. How are you?”

Of course. In their family, they had a rule to always be truthful. She’s pretty sure Ellen made them all swear an oath at some point in their childhood, something along the lines of ‘do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?’ and all that. She always said that she couldn’t help unless she had all the details, and that she would find them out anyways so they might as well get it over with and fess up. Apparently being an adult who’d lived on her own for years did not exempt her from her mother’s oath of truth. 

“Mother, I am ok. I have bruised ribs and I dislocated my shoulder. Everything else is just superficial cuts and bruises. I am ok.” Jane said, trying to keep her annoyance out of her voice. 

“What did the doctor say about the shoulder, please tell me you did see a doctor?” 

“No mother, I googled it on Web M.D.” 

“Diaz,” her mother sighed. 

“Mom, I’m so happy to see you, but I just want to sleep. Can we save whatever powerpoint lecture you’ve got made for later when I’ll actually be coherent enough to understand it?” 

“Jane, we need to debrief and then you can sleep. We'll be brief.” at that moment Ellen sounded as tired as Jane felt, and that made Jane feel guilty. 

Here she was, sitting on a couch in the Oval Office completely deviating from the Company’s plan and after having showed up to the White House without actually telling anyone herself she was coming, and sass-mouthing her mother. All this after undoubtedly causing her mother and entire family enormous amounts of stress in the last week, and years of avoidance. 

_ Good going, Jane. You’re really doing this whole ‘rebuilding relationships’ thing really well.  _

“I’m sorry.” she said quietly. 

“I know, baby. We’ll be quick and then get you settled.” Jane nodded her agreement. 

“I spoke on the phone with the DCI and your direct supervisor in Amman. They informed me that you were being taken out of operations due the risk that your true identity was discovered and would put you and other officers at risk. They also said that you would go to an apartment in Georgetown. Yet, here you are.” her mother paused, clearly expecting her to respond. 

“Yes, the change in my position was conveyed to me before I left Amman.” 

“And, the apartment?”

“I couldn’t go there.” Jane answered. “I - I wanted to come home.” 

Ellen moved to sit closer to Jane, holding her hand. 

“I understand that, and I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am that you’re here. However, what if you’ve been photographed? Your face will be in the papers and people will talk.” 

“On the plane, I did a lot of thinking. Admittedly, I also did some drinking. And here I am. I love my job, but apparently I can’t do my job anymore.” Jane said quietly. “I’m not sure what is next for me. I can’t do what I love, at least not in the same capacity. I’m not even sure I want to.” 

Ellen was silent, so Jane kept speaking. 

“It’s been a long time coming, but I was feeling burnt out, even before Irbid. I was planning to request time off, to come home, but then… ya know, Irbid happened.” 

“What happened in Irbid, Jane?” 

“Didn’t they give you my statement from the debrief? I’m sure your liaison could get it.” 

“No. I want to hear it from you.” Ellen rejected. “I need to hear you say it.” 

“It’s a recorded statement you could still--” 

“Jane.” 

Jane leaned back, head tipped back on the lip of the couch. What the fuck was she doing here? 

“Are you asking as the President or as my mother?” 

“Right now, I’m asking as the President.” 

Jane pulled her hand out of the President’s. 

“Duly noted,” Jane said, trying and surely failing to keep the coldness out of her voice. “I left the Embassy in Amman to meet with an asset, one I’d cultivated for years. Things went south, a bomb went off in the bazaar. I escaped, but the primary safe house was compromised. I went to the secondary safe house. It wasn’t safe to leave so I had to stay put. My partner showed up. He was a traitor. I escaped him and whatever it was he was attempting to do. I made it back to Amman, gave my debrief, and now I’m here.” 

“Jane…” the President sighed. 

“No. Madam President, if you want the full scope of the events of the last week, I’ll have the debrief sent to you. Last time I checked, most presidents never actually sat down an officer to get the details after an op.” Jane said, failing to keep the anger out of her voice for sure this time. 

This is exactly what she didn’t want to happen, something she should’ve considered further before making this stupid choice to come to the White House. She wanted her mother, her family, not the President. 

She wanted out of that room. 

“You may not like it, Jane, but this is the reality we are living. I am the president. I am your mother, but I  _ am _ the president, too. If it means that much to you, I’ll pull your statement, but I was hoping you would be the one to tell me. Now, before you get some rest, we need to talk about what you’re telling the family and what you want me to tell the DCI and your supervisor when they call to ask why you’re at the damn White House and not in the apartment they arranged.” 

“What are we even allowed to tell them? I was told they would make the decision while I was in the air.” Jane said back. 

“The bear minimum. You can speak to your physical condition, you can mention that you were meeting an asset, even tell about the bomb. They don’t want you to mention your partner or potential exposure.” 

Jane nodded, that was for the best. Honestly, she wasn’t ready to think about Aaron herself let alone talk to others about him. 

“I don’t know what to tell the DCI. I...I think I need time to figure out what I want to do. Maybe I’ll put in for a sabbatical or something, if that’s even something the agency would do.” 

“Ok, darlin’. I’ll call them and maybe we can plan to speak or have a meeting in a few days?” 

Jane nodded her agreement. 

“Well, that’s business end. Can I be your mom for a minute now?” 

Jane nodded again. 

“You scared the hell outta me.” Ellen’s Texan drawl was out in full swing. “As your mom, I wanted to fly to Jordan myself, find you, and ground you until you’re 75.” 

That got a smile out of Jane, a small one, but a smile nonetheless. 

“You know, I really didn’t plan for any of that to happen.” 

“I know, dear.” Ellen sighed, “Between you and Alex, I’ll be gray before I leave office. Thank God, for June. At least I have one sane child.” 

“Mom!” 

Both women laughed. Ellen reached out to brush her daughter’s hair. 

“I’m so proud of you. You know that, right?” Ellen said quietly. 

Jane nodded. She knew if she gave a verbal answer, she would cry for sure. 

“I’m so proud of you, and while I’ve missed you terribly, I’m so proud of all you’ve done. Well… maybe not your hygiene habits if this hair is anything to go by.” Ellen winked at her. 

“Again, you’re clowning me and I’ve been back for what? An hour?” Jane shot back, but then when on to say more quietly, “But I have missed you, all of you, so much. And I’m sorry.” 

“Let’s get you washed up and into a bed. Then we can get the family together.” Ellen stood up and pulled Jane with her. 

“Yesss, please. Although, I’m pretty sure Alex knows I’m here, so I doubt we’ll be able to avoid that.” 

Ellen rolled her eyes. “That boy is going to give me an ulcer.” 

***

Alex left his room in the Residence, deciding he would snoop around his mother’s offices. Surely he would find something to do there, or that’s what he hoped because he was going to lose his mind if he had to continue to sit around and wait. He was done being the epitome of the ‘when will my husband return from the war’ meme waiting on his sister to show up. 

What Alex didn’t expect was to see a woman who looked suspiciously like Jane standing in his mother’s office. You see, Alex knew that to be impossible, because Jane was supposed to go to some apartment and not show up to the White House. So no, that was not Jane. 

Except that it was undeniably Jane. Even from only seeing the back of his sister, and despite not having seen her in person in years, he would know her anywhere. 

“Hey!” he shouted, “Jane?!”

The woman turned, and sure enough, those eyes (his eyes) locked with his own. 

“Jane!?” 

His sister waved and gave him a tiny smile before the door was promptly shut in his face. 

“Hey, Jane!” he kept moving down the hall, determined to get into his mother’s office. 

“Hold it right there!” Alex jumped, not expecting the hand that landed on his shoulder. 

Zahra. That woman had the ability to teleport, he was sure. 

“Zahra, Jane is here! She’s right through that fucking door!” he shouted. 

“Yes, Alex. I know. She arrived only a few minutes ago.” 

“What the hell? Why didn’t anyone tell me? Tell us?” He said angrily and he continued toward the door. 

“Alex, stop. You can’t go in there right now.” Zahra kept her hand on his shoulder. 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he jerked his shoulder out of her grasp. 

“It means that this is the White House, and your mother, the President of the United States, is conducting official business in the Oval Office. You will not go in there.” Zahra said, eyes almost daring him to continue arguing. 

Alex Claremont-Diaz was never one to back off from a dare. 

“I’m not leaving. I will stay right here, and someone will tell me what the fuck is going on. This is my family and my sister.” 

“That may be true, however, your sister is a federal employee and your mother is the President. The current situation your family finds itself in is quite  _ literally _ an issue of national security for which you don’t have the clearance to discuss.” He’d done it now, Zahra was in full handler mode. “So, if you want to continue making a scene, by all means continue. However, you will not under any circumstance go into that office unless you are invited in. Do you understand me?” 

Alex couldn’t deny she was right. He wasn’t ready to give in though. 

“I will stay right here. I won’t go in, but I will not move.” 

“Fine.”

“Fine.” Zahra stalked off down the hall, while Alex stood his ground. 

After what felt like hours, the door to the Oval Office opened. His mother walked out first, and his sister followed right behind. 

“Jane.” he breathed. 

Both women stopped walking. 

“Hey, little bro.” Jane smiled at him. He smiled, she used to say that same phrase everyday he came down the stairs after her for breakfast as kids. 

“Jane.” 

“I think you broke him.” he heard his mother say. 

Alex rushed over to his sister and pulled her, not so gently, into a hug. She kept her grunt to herself, not wanting him to let her go if he heard it. 

Jane was smaller than he remembered, or maybe he was bigger.  _ Yes Alex, people typically grow, not shrink.  _ He thought to himself.

“Hey, hey, Alex, it’s ok.” he heard Jane say. It was only then he realized he was crying. Jane was thumbing away some of his tears with one hand. Jane’s own smile was also quite watery. 

“How are you here?” he looked her up and down, “What the hell happened to you?” 

“Oh, you know, a rough day at the office.” she told him. 

Alex and Ellen rolled their eyes. 

“Oh fuck,” Alex let go of her, “I just -- I just grabbed you! Are you ok? Did I hurt you?” 

Stopping him before he could enter full spiral, Jane reassured him that he hadn’t hurt her and that she really would be ok. She was banged up but would be ok. 

“Mostly, I’m tired.” she finished. 

“Of course, you should go to bed. Mom, she needs to go to bed.” he turned to address his mom.

“Yes, dear, we were actually just headed that way. Care to come with?” 

Alex nodded and they walked to the Residence. 

There was so much he wanted to say, but he didn’t know where to begin. ‘Sorry, I was a dick’ definitely wouldn’t be enough but he had to start somewhere. Maybe he should wait though? Jane honestly looked like she’d been through the meat grinder. 

Ellen led Jane into one of the rooms close to his own. She showed Jane the towels and Alex grabbed a change of clothes from his closet. Ellen wished her a good sleep and made sure she knew how to call her if she needed something with the phone in her room. Then she left, needing to get back to work. Work as the president wouldn’t stop for Jane. 

“Will you be alright, with the bum wing?” Alex asked, as he got read to leave.

“You really are dating a Brit aren’t you?” Jane teased. 

Fuck, he’d missed this. June teased him all the time. Henry teased him, Pez teased him, Nora teased him. Basically Alex spent 95% of his time being bullied, but this was Jane. It’d been years since he’d been on the receiving end of Jane’s jokes. 

“Oh my God, you're totally gone. Look at your face!” she laughed. Alex was sporting his ‘I’m thinking about my boyfriend and how cute his stupid face is’ face. 

“Shut up.” Alex huffed, unable to wipe the smile off his face. 

“Oh dear, you’ve gotten a little rusty in the comeback department. We’ll fix that, don’t worry, little bro.” Jane shoved his shoulder. 

“Does that mean you’re staying?” Alex’s big fat mouth opened and the levity left the room. 

“I don’t know exactly what is going to happen, but I’m here now.” Jane said quietly. “I missed you.” 

“I missed you too. So much, Jane. And I want to talk, we need to talk. But not now, later. When you’re more comfortable.” 

“Oh no, are you breaking up with me? ‘We need to talk’.” Jane smiled, bringing a little lightheartedness back into the room. 

“Janeeee.”

“I know. Yes, we will talk. I want that so badly. I’m so proud of you, by the way. I can’t wait to meet Henry.” 

Alex nodded and smiled, and gently pulled her in for one more hug, being more mindful of the obvious injuries to Jane’s person. 

“I’m proud of you too, and thanks. I really want to introduce you, although I’m sure I’ll regret it shortly thereafter.” Alex teased. 

“It’s a risk you’ll have to take.” 

“Come find me when you wake up. I’m just down the hall.” Jane agreed that she would, and Alex left her alone to get some much needed rest.

*** 

Alex shut the door to Jane’s room behind him and stood there for a minute. 

His brain hadn’t quite caught up to all that just happened. Jane was back. Jane was alive. Jane was at the White House. 

Holy Shit. He needed to find June. And then Henry. And Nora. And his dad. 

“June! June!” Alex ran off down the hall to find his other sister and the rest of his family. Jane was back, and things were looking a little brighter in the Claremont White House. 


	11. Foreign Chairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunions all around.

Jane heard Alex shouting for June the moment he shut the door behind him. She sighed. There were more reunions to come, and she really wanted to see everyone but mostly she wanted to sleep. Needless to say, sleep was hard to come by in Irbid, she chose to drink instead of sleep on the flight (a decision she was beginning to regret), and now she was really struggling to stay awake long enough to shower. Her head pounded and she couldn’t tell if it was the alcohol or the lack of sleep causing it. Probably both. 

Jane peeled off her dirty clothes piece by piece, thanking every deity she could think of that her shirt was a button up and therefore much easier to handle with her shoulder. She stared at herself in the mirror. 

Fuck, she really did look like she was hit by a bus. Her ribs were turning a nasty green and purple, not to mention the countless other bruises dotting her body. Some of the smaller bruises were starting to turn the yellowish color meaning they were healing. 

She started the water and waited for it to get hot before carefully stepping in. Enjoying the hot water and how it relaxed her muscles, she slowly sank to the shower floor. Surrounded by steam she closed her eyes, she took deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth, over and over. 

If anyone were to see her sitting there, she would appear to be the definition of tranquil. Thanks to the water, no one would be able to notice the tears running down her face. (That’s why Jane had always been a shower crier.) In that moment, in her small shower, in one of the most secure buildings in the world, Jane allowed herself to feel, really feel all that her mind and body suppressed for the last who-know-how-many hours. She nearly died. She was very nearly killed or allowed to be kidnapped by someone who she thought to be her friend. _Friend_. She couldn’t deny it anymore. Aaron was her friend. She might try to play it off as a purely work relationship, but was more than that. They were confidants, sharing daily the struggles of their job, their worries, their aspirations. In actuality, he was probably the person that knew her best, or least knew the person she’d become since joining the agency. And he fucking betrayed her. He took whatever their relationship and threw it out for some cash. So she cried. She sat and cried. 

Only when the water went lukewarm did she make herself stand up. That was it. Feeling time was over. She washed the grime off her body, and along with it she washed away the memories and the feelings she’d briefly allowed herself to experience. It was over. Time to move forward and keep going. After she was clean, she stepped out and wrapped herself in the fluffiest towel she’d ever seen. 

Dressed in her brother’s clothes (which were larger than she expected, her baby bro wasn’t much of a baby anymore), she exited the bathroom and made her way to the plush bed in the middle of the opposite wall. She turned down the blankets and climbed in, asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. 

***

“What, Alex? Why are you shouting?” June popped her head out having heard Alex. 

“Jane’s here! She’s literally in the room next to you.”

“What?! No she’s supposed --” 

“I know, but she’s here. I saw her when I went down to poke around mom’s office. And she was just fucking standing there, and then mom brought her up here to relax and shower.”

June turned back into her room and Alex followed, noticing Nora and Henry sitting on the couches.

“She’s really here. She looks like hell, but she’s here.” 

“Jane’s here?” Nora asked. 

“It would appear so.” June said. “Why didn’t she come see me?” 

Alex noticed June looking a little hurt. 

“She seemed really tired, like about to keel over mid-step tired. I only saw her because I was downstairs.” Alex explained.

June nodded. 

“But what is she doing here? I thought she was going somewhere else.” Nora said. 

Alex plopped himself down on Henry, and the prince let out an “oof”. 

“Shut up, I’m light as a feather.” Alex brushed off Henry’s protests at being a human chair, Alex knew he secretly (not so secretly) loved it. 

“How did she seem?” June turned everyone’s attention back to Jane’s arrival. 

Alex thought for a moment. He wasn’t really sure how to answer. He expected her to seem...haggard, maybe? Or in some sort of distress. Physically she was obviously hurt and tired, but other than that she seemed perfectly normal, just like he remembered. She’d even made fun of him just like she always used to do. 

“Honestly, she seemed like Jane. Physically, she looked quite different, but she was joking around like any other time we’ve been together.” Alex told them. “Looking back, it seems odd. In that moment, though, I was just happy to see her.” 

“It’s weird. We don’t really know what happened. Something, obviously, because we can see the injuries, but what if it’s not as bad as we’re thinking?” June made a good point, but Alex couldn’t help thinking she was wrong. His brain kept telling him that she wouldn’t look like she did, she wouldn’t be at the fucking White House (a places she’s avoided for the entirety of their mother’s presidency) if it was all some misunderstanding. 

“I don’t know, June. Sorry, but it doesn’t feel like that.” Nora said, unknowingly echoing Alex’s own thoughts. 

Alex nodded, “Nothing about this feels right.” 

The conversation died down after that, everyone content to sight quietly lost in their own thoughts. Alex felt the familiar buzzing under his skin when his mind started running through the endless possibilities about Jane’s time in Jordan. 

Henry, having noticed Alex flexing his hands (a clear sign he was starting to feel anxious), grabbed one of those tanned hands and squeezed gently. Alex took a deep breath and leaned back into his boyfriend, tucking his head under that jawline that should be illegal. Henry brought his free hand up to scratch at the back of the Alex’s neck. 

They sat there, lost in their own thoughts until someone’s stomach let out a ridiculous sound that got them laughing. 

“For fucks sake, Nora, what animal are you holding hostage in there?” Alex laughed. 

“Don’t laugh, you idiots, feed me!” 

They decided that Jane probably wouldn’t wake up for a while and they would save her some of whatever they ate. The quartet ordered enough pizza to feed a small army and once it arrived they tucked in without delay. 

“Room for one more?’ 

All four looked toward the door, having been lost in their conversation “argument” about who’s country had the superior cooking shows, they didn’t notice the door opening or Jane entering the room. 

Jane walked over and plopped herself down next to June and grabbed a slice of pizza.   
  


No one said anything. 

“What?” Jane asked when she was met with silence, “Is there something on my face?”

“Is there something?--” June huffed, “Get over here, you idiot!” June practically tackled Jane in the rush to get her arms around her sister. 

“Hey, there.” Jane said, patting June on the back with the hand that wasn’t occupied by pizza. June didn’t let go, and if here shaking shoulders were anything to go by, she was crying.” 

“June.” Jane called, quietly. “Junebug.” 

“Juniper.”

“Alex, take this pizza will you.” Alex took the pizza out of Jane’s hand as requested. 

Jane wrapped June up in her arms and held her. 

“June, it’s ok. Everything’s ok.” 

June sat up at that, pulling out of Jane’s embrace.

“No!” She exclaimed, “Everything is decidedly _not_ ok!” June wiped at her eyes. 

“What the fuck, Jane? Seriously? What the fuck is going on? What the fuck even happened?” June questioned, channeling her inner Alex Claremont-Diaz. 

Jane sighed and took a deep breath. 

“So I guess we’re doing this now then?” 

“Yes! We’re gonna do it right fucking now.” June demanded. June felt she’d been quite calm since finding out her sister was in the CIA and potentially dead in the middle east, only to show up at the White House a few days later. Alex had his freak out and Nora had hers, so it was June’s damn turn and Jane was going to answer her questions. 

“Alrightly,” Jane agreed. “Alex, gimme my pizza back. I feel like I’m gonna need it.” 

Alex passed the slice back into Jane’s outstretched hand. 

“Ok, before you start asking questions, let me say something please.” No one objected so Jane kept talking. “I will answer your questions the best that I can. But please, there are some I won’t be able to answer, some I can’t answer. Legally. I’m sorry, but I need you to understand that going in. I can’t really tell you specifics about what happened in Jordan. All you need to know is that I was on an op, the op went bad, but it’s ok now. I’m ok now.”

“What does that even mean? ‘The op when bad’?” Nora asked. 

“It means it didn’t go as planned. Shit hit the fan and it was a dangerous situation for a while. I can’t give specifics, like I said. There was an explosion, I was there. Got a little banged up. That’s literally all I can say though. Please don’t ask. I’m not going to lie, but I also can’t tell you anything,” 

“Oh now, you don’t want to lie.” June retorted. 

Everyone was silent, a little shocked by June’s outburst. 

“Ok, fuck I’m not drunk enough for this shit.” Jane muttered. “You think I wanted to lie, June? You think I wanted to lie to you all for years? Well I didn’t! I hated every minute of it, but guess what? I loved my fucking job. I was excited to do something meaningful. To be my own person and build my own reputation. So yeah I fucking lied, and I avoided, and I’m sorry. I can’t change the past though.” 

“Sure,” June scoffed, “Must have been really tough galavanting around the world like some fucking super spy.” 

Alex laughed quietly to himself and muttered “Jane Bond.” 

Everyone groaned, a chorus of “Ugh” and “Come on, Alex” rang through the room. 

Tensions lessened a little with Alex’s interruption. 

“Look, I know it wasn’t easy. And there’s a lot we need to discuss, but I’m sorry ok. I never meant to hurt you or make you worry.” Jane said. “I missed you and I love you.” 

June sighed. “I love you too, and I’m sorry for going off on you. I think I held it all in for so long and just lost it.” 

“Yeah you really did.” Nora chimed in. “I almost thought you were Alex for a second.” 

“Hey!” Alex shouted, “I’m lovely!” 

June shoved Nora’s shoulder. 

“So, Alex, would you like to introduce me to your chair? Might as well make an introduction since he got to see us fight like children.” Jane nodded toward Alex and Henry, the former was still sitting in his boyfriend’s lap. 

“Ah yes, best chair on this side of the Atlantic." Alex wiggled his hips. "I really do recommend foreign imported chairs, they make quite the throne." 

Henry rolled his eyes and poked Alex in the side where he was ticklish. 

“Hey! Hey! Chill dude.” Alex swatted at Henry. “Jane this is Henry, Henry that’s Jane.” Alex gestured vaguely between them. 

“I’m not sure that was entirely in keeping with protocol, love.” which sent Alex into a tirade about how Henry could “shove his protocol right up his-” Henry put a hand over Alex’s mouth before he could finished and looked somewhat sheepishly at the three women on the opposite couch. 

“Oh god, they’re cute.” Jane looked at June and Nora in mock panic. 

“I think the word you’re looking for is gross.” Nora informed, “It’s ok, you’ll learn.” 

In an attempt to reign in the Trio, Henry cut in, “Hi, I’m Henry. It’s lovely to finally meet you. I’d shake your hand or something, but well…” he gestured to Alex, still perched on Henry’s legs. 

“Lovely to meet you as well.” Jane said, “Sorry you ended up with Alex.” 

“For fuck’s sake! Let a guy live!” Alex groaned. 

The rest had a good laugh at Alex’s expense while the youngest in the room pouted. 

“So Henry, tell me, what exactly did go down at that royal wedding?” Jane smirked. 

“Oh I’ll tell you, I was attack—“ Alex exclaimed. 

Henry threw his hand back over Alex’s mouth. “What he means to say is that he accosted me and pulled me into a cake.” 

Alex tried to argue but Henry dutifully kept his hand in place. 

“I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here, but I’m entirely sure I don’t want to know. “ Everyone turned to look toward the door. There was Ellen, Oscar, and Leo staring at the group of young adults. 

“Henry, dear, I think you’ve finally found a way to shut Alex up.” Ellen said. Henry blushed and removed his hand. “Oh and Alex, thank you so much for informing us Jane was awake, it’s not like we’ve been waiting hours to see her.” 

“Happy to help.” Alex quipped. 

“Mija,” Oscar said as he walked toward Jane. Jane stood up and let herself be pulled into a hug. They spoke quietly between themselves for a moment while the other adults settled and got their own slices of pizza off the coffee table. 

When Jane and Oscar pulled apart, Jane went over to Leo for a hug as well before returning to her previous spot and picking up her _still_ uneaten pizza slice. 

Jane expected to be grilled (again) about, well… everything, but it never came. Her mother gave her a knowing look from across the room and a small smile, one that said ‘you’re off the hook for now, but it’s coming’. 

For now, though, Jane allowed herself to be surrounded by her family (new and old), pizza, and a sense of togetherness she hadn't felt in...ages. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Hello 
> 
> Thanks for reading and sticking around, sorry it took so long to update. I promise I really intended to write this weekend but writer's block was a real bitch. 
> 
> I'm not entirelyyyy satisfied with the ending of this chapter, but I plan to expand more on the various family member reactions in the next chapters and whatnot. 
> 
> Thanks again! Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> xx


	12. Bean Water

She didn’t know exactly what time it was, it was late though, or early she figured was a more accurate description. Jane stared at the empty streets outside the White House from the plush chair she’d claimed hours ago, besides an occasional car, D.C. resembled a ghost town at that hour. 

She looked down and noticed she was in need of another cup of coffee. Jane was never the best sleeper, which she firmly believed was a family trait. Her heart sped up as she remembered the dream that woke her. Jane woke up gasping, at the not-quite memory, not-quite dream. In that world, Jane had not listened to her gut. In that world, Jane ate the food Aaron made for her and found herself waking up restrained in the hands of faceless terrorists. She could hear the sounds of Aaron speaking with them in Pashto too quickly for her to understand. In her dreams (yes, plural) she was never able to utter a sound, completely at the mercy of her captors and unable to move. Those dreams always left her gasping for air and shaking like a leaf. 

Worse, though, were the dreams about her family. She stood by like a ghost as she watched them bury her, cry over her, scream and shout their grief over her loss. She never had the chance to tell them she loved them, and try to make things right. Those dreams also left her gasping for air, but also running to the nearest toilet to empty her stomach. 

Jane knew she needed to talk to someone, but she didn’t feel ready to unpack all her shit on her own, let alone with someone else. She fucking hated talking to therapists. She had an appointment with one the next week and she dreaded it entirely. 

She was grateful her family seemed not to notice, or if they did, they weren’t hounding her about it. The last few days were better than she could have ever hoped. She spent them lounging with her siblings, talking with her mom and dad, and truly feeling like part of the family for the first time in years. She didn’t want it all to go away, but she also wasn’t naive enough to think it could last forever. She knew they would all eventually have to go back to their normal lives, herself included. Alex and Henry would be going back to New York in another day, and everyone else was already starting to throw themselves back into work. 

Not Jane though, she was on sabbatical, indefinitely at this point. Her meeting with the DCI and her old station supervisor went about as well as expected. After her break they wanted her to come back and take over a group of analysts. Technically it would be a promotion, but it didn’t feel that way. No, it felt like they were shoving her into a corner. Even so, she promised to consider it. Until then, she was going to stay at the White House for a while, maybe go back to Texas for a few weeks. For the first time in years, she was in control of her own life, but she wasn’t yet sure if her feelings on that were positive. 

After being back home and considering what her options moving forward could be, she couldn’t shake the fact that her work in Jordan felt unfinished and it left a bad taste in her mouth. She needed answers. So far, the CIA found nothing of use on Aaron’s cell phones. He was pretty much a ghost at this point, disappearing from Irbid into the wind. Maybe it was her pride, but she felt like she needed to be the one to figure out what the hell happened. Why did Aaron go rogue? What changed, or had he been a traitor from the start? Jane was a tracker. She gathered intel, followed, analyzed, and put it all together to find whoever the Company had assigned her to find. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to track Aaron down and get some fucking answers. She needed to know, and she knew her mind wasn’t going to fully rest until she had them. 

It didn’t fucking matter though. She was benched, slidlined from anything having to do with Aaron’s disappearance or what went down in Irbid. She would just have to wait, which honestly went against every fiber of her being. She couldn’t shake the thought that there was more to this than Aaron flipping for cash and agreeing to hand off a CIA operative to a terrorist group. Either it was part of a bigger plot, maybe an attempt to use her as leverage against her mother? Jane didn’t know. 

Lost in her thoughts, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the door to the living area in the Residence open. “Shit!” 

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t think anyone else would be up.” Henry quickly apologized, “I’ll just g-”

“No, no, it’s alright! Come on in, sorry, I just didn’t hear you coming.” Jane placated. “Startled me a little.” 

“Ah, ok then. Well I was just going to make tea.” He moved into the kitchen. “Would you care for some?” 

Jane smiled at the offer. He was so damn polite. 

“Thanks, I’m alright though.” She held up her coffee mug. 

Henry nodded. “I assume you, like Alex, are more of a coffee person?” 

“You’d be correct. I can’t see how Brits enjoy that leaf juice.” 

“Yes, because the bean water you Americans prefer is so much more delicious.” Henry quipped back. 

Jane smiled. She liked this one, although, to be fair, this was the only significant other of her siblings that she’d ever met. 

“What are you doing up? Did Alex kick you? Little shit basically plays soccer in his sleep.” Jane asked, never one to miss an opportunity to tease Alex (even though he was asleep). 

“Hah, no. He was actually pretty still tonight.” Henry replied. “I’m a bit of an insomniac I suppose. I see this hour more than is probably healthy.” 

Jane nodded. “We’re alike in that respect.” 

Henry finished making his tea. “Well, I guess I’ll let you get back-” 

“Don’t be silly, get over here. We’re both up, might as well have a chat.” Jane waved him over to where she was sitting. 

Henry nodded and walked over to sit on the couch. 

They sat quietly together for a few minutes, sipping on their drinks. 

“Thank you.” Jane broke the silence. 

“For what?” Henry asked, confused. 

“For being there for Alex, for supporting him. He seems much more...settled, at peace with who he is, since the last time I saw him. To be fair, it’s been quite a while, too long, but I can see you’re good for him.” Jane said quietly. “And, sorry I know I’ve only known you a few days, but he seems good for you too. You’re good together, I mean to say.” 

“Thank you. We are good together, I love him and he loves me.” Henry told her. “Before Alex, I’d pretty much resigned myself to the fate of every other gay member of the royal family that came before me. But your brother, he taught me to fight, made me want to fight for the life I wanted. I never imagined my life could be like this.” 

“I know my life, and the choices I’ve made haven’t been easy. But I’m happy he has you. Promise me you’ll look out for him?”

“I swear. I’ll look out for him. He’ll look out for me. We’ll take care of each other.” Henry looked down into his now almost empty tea cup. “I’ll always protect him.” 

Jane nodded. 

“He needs you too, though.” Henry said after a moment of silence. “I know he’s missed you.” 

Jane gulped. “I’ve missed him too, all of them. The choices I’ve made,” she ran a tired hand through her hair, “Well, they’ve been my own, but I don’t think I ever really thought about how they might affect my family. I got really wrapped up in my job, and the secrets, and the lies. Pushing everyone away seemed like the best way forward. In the end, I wasn’t there when they needed me.” 

Henry stayed silent. 

“I was wrong, though. I see that now.” 

“I don’t think so.” Jane’s head shot up at Henry’s admission. “Ok, pushing away your family wasn’t the best idea, but it seems to me, you were trying to protect them. Half truths only do so much for so long after all.” 

Henry kept talking, “I’m not saying you were in the right, but I don’t think you were in the wrong entirely either. You did what you had to do for your job, you were serving your country. I think if any family in the world would understand that, it would be this one.” 

“We’ll see. I caused a lot of damage, that much is clear. I want to fix it though.” Jane said quietly. 

“So that’s what you do.” 

Jane looked over at Henry and nodded before allowing their conversation to taper off into comfortable silence. She knew he’d been through so much, but he really was wise beyond his years. 

Sighing, Jane stood up. “I need more coffee, care for more tea?” 

“No, thank you. I’m probably going to head back to bed. Alex will worry if he thinks I stayed up all night.” Henry blushed at his own admission. 

Jane smiled. “Go on then, back to your boy. Hope you brought your shin guards.” 

Henry laughed and walked out of the room. 

Alone again. Jane poured herself another cup and settled back into her chair. 

*** 

By the end of the week, Henry and Alex were gone. June and Nora were working, so were her parents, and Jane was just… existing. She felt absolutely useless with no reports to do or analysis to go over. Her mother was hovering, well as much as the president could considering her schedule. If she didn’t get out of that building she was going to lose it!

She finally got her mother and her security to agree to let her go out on the Mall with minimal Secret Service, so she spent a few hours wandering around on a sunny afternoon. It was one of the more peaceful moments she’d had since coming back to D.C. 

She sat on a bench, a Secret Service agent staying discreetly back. She closed her eyes and basked in the sun. D.C was actually quite nice this time of year. She’d forgotten. She came back a few years ago, secretly of course, to set up an extra safe house. One of her own that not even the agency knew about. D.C was close to her family. She’d never admit it, but deep down she figured if she was in enough of an emergency to use the safe house, knowing her family was close would keep her going, keep her fighting. That was the last time she was in D.C. It felt like a lifetime ago. 

***

As the sun started to set, her phone buzzed. Jane didn’t check it at first, figuring it was just her mother wondering when she would be back. But with the second buzz, she decided to look. 

_Unknown Number:_

_Hello, Jane._

_Unknown Number:_

_Jane._

Jane stared at the messages. Weird. 

_Unknown Number:_

_Come on, don’t you want to talk? I’m sure you have questions._

Jane didn’t respond. It couldn’t be…

_Unknown Number is calling……._

She knew it was a bad idea. Everything she’d ever learned told her not to answer. 

She hit accept and held the phone to her ear. 

The voice that rang out over the line made her blood run cold. 

“It’s not nice to steal other people’s belongings, Jane.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, 
> 
> So this feels more like a filler sort of chapter. Important chat between Jane and Henry as Jane tries to wrap her head around her life. 
> 
> Shit’s about to get moving in the next few chapters! 
> 
> Also, sorry about any typos. I wrote this on my phone which was harder than I imagined lol  
> Thanks for sticking around and reading! 
> 
> xx


	13. Trust

_ She hit accept and held the phone to her ear.  _

_ The voice that rang out over the line made her blood run cold.  _

_ “It’s not nice to steal other people’s belongings, Jane.”  _

  
  


In all their time together, Jane never thought Aaron to be stupid. He was smart and good at his job, but he had to know calling her was a terrible decision. Taunting her was a terrible decision. 

“I know you picked up. What? Nothing to say to your dear friend, only friend, really?” 

He tried pathetically to get a rise out of her, but he had to know that wouldn’t happen. 

“You know, Jane, I’m still not sure how you did it. I saw you eat the food, I know you were exhausted, but you still figured it all out. I shouldn’t be surprised, you always were good at your job. You always had to be the best, to be number one. You really fucked me over. Over and over again ever since we were at the Farm. I stomped all over me, over anyone else who took even one ounce of spotlight away from you. Then we got stuck working together year after year, posting after posting. I could never get away from you and fucking perfection. You know, I was supposed to get rich selling you. They wouldn’t even tell me why they wanted you, but I didn’t fucking care. All I could think about was the look you would have on your face when you woke up to see who was in control. Then I would go back to the Company, cry a little over your loss, and finally have you off my fucking back. ” Aaron scoffed, he sounded half-deranged. 

Jane kept quiet, waiting for Aaron to give more of himself away. 

“Well guess what, you win again, Jane. The price that was on your head, now it’s on mine. When you don’t deliver for these people, well, they don’t take too kindly to it. So here’s how it’s going to go.” 

Jane’s eyebrows shot up. So he’s going to make demands now? 

“I’m going to surrender myself to the U.S. I’ve got solid intel I know they’ll pay dearly for. So I’ll tell them what I know, for a price of course.” 

Jane almost laughed, was he really this stupid? Did he honestly think the United States would play ball. It’s like he forgot everything he witnessed working for the CIA. 

“I’ll be seeing you soon, Jane.” 

Aaron disconnected the line. 

“Everything alright, ma’am?” Jane started, head shooting toward the Secret Service agent who’d somehow moved right next to her. 

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.” Jane hoped she was convincing. 

“We need to get back now, if you’re ready.” 

Jane nodded and stood up. The pair walked back toward the White House in silence. While they walked, Jane replayed the conversation she’d just had in her head. 

Was Aaron really that fucking stupid? He had to know that the only thing he might get for sharing intel would be a reduction of his prison time. He had to know he would be indicted for what he’d done. Aaron wasn’t stupid, no there had to be something else at play here. Then again, desperate people do stupid shit. She’d seen it enough times to know. 

What was the next step? Wait for the Chief or the DCI to call? Call them first to tell them about Aaron’s call? She sighed. She knew she needed to call them, not doing so would be an obstruction to their investigation. 

Jane waited until she was back in the White House, before going to find her mother or Zahra. Either would do really. She walked around the West Wing for a while, asking a few staffers who were basically of no help to her. 

“Hey Zahra!” Jane finally spotted her at the other end of a hallway. 

“Jane, I’m sorry, I’ve got to get to a meeting with your mom, I -” 

“Zahra, it’s fine. I just wondered if I could have access to a secure line. I need to call work.” Jane interrupted. 

“Jane. It’s the White House. All lines are secure.” Zahra said before walking off. 

Fuck. Now she felt like the stupid one. Of course all lines would be secure in this building. Jane walked away, looking for an empty conference room with a phone where she could call Langley. 

After a few minutes of searching with no luck, a nervous looking staffer approached her. 

“Uh, Ms. Diaz?” they asked. 

“Yeah.” 

“The president would like to see you in her office as soon as possible.” the nervous staffer said quickly. 

“Oh, thanks. I’ll head over.” the staffer nodded and practically ran away. 

Odd. Zahra just told her that she was going to a meeting with Ellen, so why was she needed? Jane didn’t have much time to ponder as she was pretty close to the office already. 

The door was opened for her by Secret Service when she approached and she saw her mother and Zahra sitting around a speaker phone on the coffee table. 

“Ah, here she is. Jane, the DCI is on the line.” her mother announced as she sat down. 

Ok super fucking werid. 

“Hello, sir.” Jane said to the speaker phone. 

“Hi, Diaz. Glad you could join us. I’ll get right to it.” the DCI was never one to fuck around. “Your former partner has surrendered himself to our Embassy in Pakistan.” 

“Yeah, I kind of know. He called me like 20 minutes ago.” she explained. 

“And you answered the damn phone?” her mother demanded. 

“Yes. I said nothing, but I listened. He ranted about how he was tired of me being better than him at work and saying that the people he was working for were pissed that he couldn’t deliver me. Now they put a price on his head. He wants to sell what he knows on them back to us, probably for protection.” Jane told the group. 

The DCI hummed on the line. “Interesting that he would call you. He has demanded that he will speak only with you.” 

“Out of the question.” her mother interjected. 

“Understood, ma’am.” 

“Um, no. Not understood. I’m the one he wants to talk to, so let me go talk. He’s in a secure location.” 

“No, Jane. You’re on sabbatical. You’re not involved in this one.” her mother was using the voice that used to signal to Jane that her word was final, but Jane stood firm. 

“No, listen. You didn’t hear his phone call with me. He’s emotional, and clearly not thinking straight to think we would offer him anything after trying to sell one of our own to terrorists. He probably does have some decent intel, though. So let me go, I know I can get something out of him.” 

She was practically begging at this point. She needed to be the one to finish this. She needed to look him in his eyes when they told him that he would rot in a jail cell for the rest of his life, that they wouldn’t be bowing to any of his demands. The United States does not negotiate with terrorists, and that’s exactly what he made himself, a fucking terrorist. 

“You know I’m right, sir. Worst case, he gives us some bullshit intel, but he might not. He might have something fucking good.” Jane kept talking when no one interrupted her. 

“If it’s safety you’re worried about, I think something can be arranged. Surely, I’ll be fine at the Embassy in Islamabad. Or if it’s protocol, well, I’d say this is a special circumstance.” 

“You always have a fucking answer, don’t you, Diaz?” the DCI shot back. 

“You’ve read my file. You know.” 

“I still don’t agree with this.” her mother said. 

“Ma’am, if you truly object. We can work around it. But I must admit, Diaz is one of our best. It would be useful to have her there not only because of her experience, but her personal connection to Aaron can be used to our benefit.” 

Everyone waited to see what Ellen would say. 

The president took a deep breath, “I always said I would stay out of it, Jane. Unless it would be natural for the president to know about an operation or it was in a briefing, I agreed to being treated like any other CIA officer’s family would be treated. If I wasn’t part of the equation, or my position wasn’t, and you would still allow her to go, then I won’t stand in the way.” 

Jane just barely held herself back from jumping across the table to hug her mother. 

“We would ma’am, send her I mean.” 

“Ok, then. Let’s talk about the next steps.” Jane said, never one to waste time when there was field work to plan (although, part of her was super bummed that she now considered going to an embassy ‘field work’, oh how the mighty have fallen). 

“I assume you have a go-bag?” Jane confirmed she did have a bag. “We’ll have a plane ready for you in two hours.” 

Her mother and Zahra talked more with the DCI concerning the security protocols before they all said their goodbyes and disconnected the call. 

“Jane, are you sure?” her mother asked one last time. 

Jane nodded. “I have to finish this.” 

“You don’t though. Anyone else could do this.” Her mother implored. 

“Yes, anyone else could. But I need it to be me. You don’t understand. You could never. In our line of work, literally the only people we can trust are ourselves and our partners. Mine tried to drug me and sell me to terrorists, so yes, I will finish this. I will look him in the eye and finish this.” 

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, that’s all.” 

“I won’t.” 

“You can’t really say that, though, can you?” Her mother nodded toward her arm, still in the sling. 

“Mother, I’m literally going to an Embassy. You’re all acting like I’m going to some village in bumb-fuck nowhere. I’ll literally be in the capital of Pakistan, a place I’ve been before mind you, so please calm down. I will be fine.” 

Her mother’s eyebrow arched in the way that told her she should really stop talking, so she did. 

“Look. Please. Please just try to understand. Let me go. I promise I will do my best to stay safe, I’ll follow all the security protocols and I’ll be back for you know it.” 

“Go. Just go, and do what you need to do.” 

Jane knew that was the best answer she was going to get. She stood up and went over to her mother. The women hugged each other tightly. 

“I love you.” her mother said quietly into Jane’s hair. 

“I love you, too.” 

With one last squeeze, Jane pulled away and headed for the door. She didn’t look back, not sure what she would find if she did. So, she kept her eyes forward and walked the familiar path to her room. 

She grabbed her bag from the closet and checked its contents. Clothes. Passport. Cash. Toothbrush, Wig. Good to go. 

She checked her watch. According to the text the DCI sent her, she had about 20 minutes to kill before her ride to the airport would arrive. She knew she needed to let the rest of the family know what she was doing. She couldn’t just disappear like she used to, but she was nervous. Jane had really made a lot of progress connecting with her siblings, and she was afraid this was going to set them back. It wasn’t forever, it wasn’t like she was really going to be an active officer again. She was going to Pakistan, do the interrogation, and then she would fly home. That was it. 

She decided that she better call them. 

As the phone rang she thought about what to say. 

“Hey Jane, sorry I don’t have a ton of --” 

“Alex, hey sorry, I’m in a bit of a rush here. Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt your evening but you need to hear this from me. Hang on just a second while I conference in June.” 

Before Alex could protest or comment, she put it on speaker and called June. 

“Hey, sis. What’s shakin’?” June answered. 

“Hey, June. I’ve got you and Alex on the line.” 

“What’s this all about, Jane?” Alex asked. 

“I’ve got some news and I wanted to be the one to tell you guys.” Jane started to explain. “There’s been some developments at work, with what happened in Irbid.” 

“Ok, and?” June questioned. 

“I’m going out of the country for a bit to handle those developments.” Jane explained the best that she could without being able to really give them any details. 

“Where are you going?” Alex asked. 

“I can’t say.” 

“When will you be back.” he kept going when she didn’t answer his first question. 

“I don’t really know. Shouldn’t be more than a day or two, plus travel time.” she answered, and that was the whole truth. She truly didn’t know how long she would be gone.

She was met with silence on the line, rarity for the Claremont-Diaz family. 

“Do you have to go?” June asked quietly. 

“If you’re asking me if they’re making me go, then the answer is no. Truth is, this is something I need to do for myself. Finish what I started.” she answered. 

“Are you coming back?” Alex asked. 

“I said that I was com-” 

“So?” Alex interrupted, stress evident in the rising volume of his voice. “You don’t exactly have the best track record for the truth.” 

“Alex!” June exclaimed. 

“What? You know it’s true. Who’s to say you aren’t going right back into the arm of the CIA? Did you mean any of the shit you said? About it being different? About not being sure what you were going to do in the future?” Alex was really laying into her. 

“Yes, Alex. I meant every word. I’m sure you don’t believe, but I did mean it. I do mean it. Things will not go back to the way they were.” 

“But how can we really know that?” 

Jane was starting to get angry now, her brother’s tone doing nothing to help her stay calm. 

“You just have to fucking trust me, Alex! What are you really mad about here? Are you mad that I’m leaving or are you made that you don’t get to know all the details?” she yelled. 

Silence followed her outburst. 

“Yeah, well I don’t fucking trust you.” Alex finally said, “Have fun playing spy.” 

Both June and Jane heard the sound of Alex ending the call on his end. 

“Fuck.” Jane whispered. 

“I...I’m trying to trust you here, Jane, but it’s hard.” June told her. 

“I know. I know it’s fucking hard, and I know I’m asking a lot of you. Please, just one more time, trust me. I didn’t even have to tell you guys I was going. I’ll be back in a few days and you would’ve been none the wiser, but I wanted to tell you. I wanted to be upfront with you.” 

“I appreciate that. Please be safe. We thought we lost you once already.” June pleaded, “I think that’s really why Alex said those things.” 

“I will be. I’ll follow all the rules.” 

“Now I know you’re lying.” June laughed, “It’ll be a cold day in hell when you, or Alex, follow all the rules.” 

“You caught me there. But I really will try to stay safe.” 

“Ok. Well, let me know when you’re back. In the meantime, I’ll try to knock some sense into Alex’s thick skull.” June assured her. 

“Good luck with that. I’ve got to go, my ride’s here. Bye June, love you.” 

“Love you, too.” June said. 


	14. Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let the games begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading, everyone! I appreciate all the support <3

Jane took a deep breath when she stepped off the plane and immediately regretted it. Pakistan was never known for their air quality so all she got was a lung full of smog. It felt a lot like Jordan, hot and dry. She only hoped for better air con than they had in Jordan. 

Jane spent most of the flight in a daze, mind running wild about inevitably having to face Aaron, all the while going back to the last phone call she’d had with her siblings. At least she and June left things off on the right foot. June might not understand why she left, but June was always the more level headed of the three siblings. Alex, though. Well, she’d just have to deal with Alex when she got back. No use in crying over spilt milk, especially not when she had a job to do. 

Jane was quickly herded into a vehicle and driven to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. She thought about the last time she was in Pakistan. It’d been maybe five or six years? She couldn’t really remember, but it was actually one of her first postings after training. This trip felt very different from her last. The last time she was picked up by a coworker in a regular sedan. This time there was practically a motorcade. Anyone who was watching, and there were definitely a few, would clearly know someone important was going to the embassy. They likely wouldn’t know who, but her security wasn’t exactly being  _ quiet _ . 

An embassy aid guided her into an empty conference room and offered Jane a cup of coffee, which she gratefully accepted. It was only a few minutes later when the Islamabad station chief and her own former station chief walked into the room. 

“Ah, here she is.” the Chief said. “Jane, allow me to introduce you to John Bradley, the station chief here in Pakistan.” 

Jane stood up and shook Bradley’s hand. 

“Good to meet you, sir. Chief, I didn’t realize you’d be here.” She said to the men. 

“Well, Bradley here asked if I could make the trip. Figured it’d be good to have another familiar face to deal with Aaron.” the Chief explained. 

Well if Aaron wasn’t happy to see the Chief, she certainly was. The older man was always a mentor to her. 

“Let’s get right to it.” Bradley gestured for Jane and the Chief to sit down. “Just to catch you up, Jane, Aaron has been held in isolation since surrendering himself to us. No official interview with him has been done because everytime they enter the room he shouts that he won’t speak to anyone except you.” 

Jane nodded that she was listening. 

“The Pakistani’s have no record of him entering the country. He could have entered through Afghanistan, but given his resources he likey flew in on a fake passport. When he surrendered, he had no personal belongings beyond his clothes and a burner phone. The phone only had one call on its history. Either he ditched anything he brought with him, or he has some sort of safe house or residence in the area. We’ve got people working on that now.” 

“Likely that call was to me. He called me right before he surrendered.” 

“Yes, the DCI informed us of that.” the Chief said. “Right now, I will go and talk to him first. A familiar face. Maybe rattle him a little before sending you in.” 

“Ok. Well, let’s get going.” Jane stood up with the two men. 

They walked deeper into the building, toward the basement. The group entered into a small observation room attached to the interview room where Aaron waited. Through the glass, Jane was able to take a good look at her former partner. 

He looked exactly like she remembered, exactly like she’d seen in her dreams. His brown hair was shaggier than usual and he looked a little tired, but other than that, perfectly normal. The perfectly normalness of it all shook her a little. It didn’t feel right. Why did he get to sit there, like it was any ol’ day, while she stands two meters away behind one-way glass ready to start shaking at any minute? Life’s not fucking fair, that’s why. 

She didn’t know what would be worse, him having bullshit intel to give because he’s desperate for protection or money, or Aaron giving actual actionable intel meaning he was in deep with those people. 

“Ready?” Bradley asked. 

Jane nodded and the Chief made his way into the interview room. 

“Wow, they’re bringing in the big guns.” was the first thing Aaron said when the Chief walked in the door. “They flew you all the way here to talk to me? I feel so special.” 

“Afternoon, Aaron. Long time no see.” The Chief sat down across from Aaron, back toward the one-way glass. 

“Not that I’m not enjoying our little reunion, but you are not who I requested to see.” 

“What makes you think we are going to allow you to speak with Jane?” 

“You probably wouldn’t, if it was anyone else. But, you see, I know Jane. I know Jane better than Jane knows herself. I bet every dollar in your wallet that she pushed and begged to be allowed to talk to me.” 

Jane scoffed at his assertions. He didn’t know her that well if he thought she would fall for his pathetic kidnapping attempt back in Irbid. 

“Then you must be a shitty gambler. As a part of this agency you’ll remember well, from your time on my side of the table, that we don’t just give walk-ins whatever they want, not without something from you first. And right now, Aaron, you haven’t given us anything.” the Chief’s voice was calm and firm, reminding Aaron of exactly who he was dealing with. 

“So now I’m just a ‘walk-in’?” Aaron also kept a calm facade. 

“To be frank, yes. You did literally walk into this Embassy and started making demands. Sounds like any other walk-in I’ve ever dealt with.” 

“Well, I’m not fucking like them. I’ve dealt with them too, you know.” Aaron retorted. “I have actual intel to give, but I’ll only give it on my terms.” 

“What could you possibly have to give, Aaron?” The Chief was trying to knock Aaron off his game, make him emotional. The easiest way to do that was to remind Aaron of just how ordinary he was. Just another cog in the wheel at the agency, not even an officer who was noteworthy. Just another walk-in. Not at all special. 

“Oh, I have plenty, and if you want it, you’ll meet my demands.” 

“Look. You haven’t given any indication that you have anything of importance to share with us. What makes you think we are going to take the time to play your little game when we could just as easily arrest you on any number of indictments after what you pulled in Irbid? What makes you think we won’t turn you over to the Jordanians after setting off a bomb on their soil? I’m sure they’d love to have a chat with you. I’ve heard Jordanian prisons can be quite nice this time of year. Maybe you’d like to visit?” 

Aaron was quiet for a moment. 

“Don't you get it? You aren’t walking out of this building. You’ll be placed under arrest, and that’ll be that. I trained you well enough for you to know this was coming, to know what options would be.” 

Aaron remained silent, jaw firmly set. 

The chief kept talking, “You probably thought you could walk in here, make your demands, and get whatever you wanted. Well tough shit, Aaron. It doesn’t fucking work like that, especially for traitors.” 

Aaron clapped slowly. Clap. Clap. Clap. 

“Bravo, Chief. Lovely little spiel there.” Aaron laughed. “Now, let’s talk business. You say I won’t be getting out of the building. Do you honestly think I want to when there’s a price on my head? No, I’m fully expecting that you all will take me into some form of custody, but what that looks like remains to be seen.” 

“You still haven’t given me any indication that what you have to say is worth our time.” 

“Let me speak with Jane, and I will. I assume she’s watching from behind that glass.” Aaron twiddled his fingers at the glass. “Hello, Jane, dear. Why don’t you come on out for a chat?” 

Jane sucked in a sharp breath. Ok, so the glass was obvious, he obviously knew someone would be watching behind it, but it was unsettling for her to be addressed so directly. By some stroke of his own luck, he managed to look directly at her for his little wave. 

“Aaron, I’m just not sure how well you thought this through. Say that you’re wrong about us, and we don’t let you talk to Jane. Say that you’re wrong about Jane and she refuses to speak with you. What will you do then?” 

“I’m not fucking wrong.” Aaron’s volume started to raise.

“Then prove it!” the Chief challenged. “Give me a reason to attempt to get her to speak with you. If you don’t, this conversation is finished and we’ll turn you over to the FBI.” 

Aaron thought for a moment, clearly weighing his options. 

“They know.” 

The Chief rolled his eyes. “Who knows what, Aaron?” 

“IS-K, they know about Jane. Or should I say Elena Jane Claremont-Diaz, technically First Daughter of the United States of America.” Aaron smirked and looked back at the one-way glass. “Give my best to Momma President, Jane!”

Jane exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she’d held. She felt Bradley’s eyes on her. As he wasn’t her supervisor, he wouldn’t have been read into her identity. Although, given the security arrangements, Jane figured someone would’ve told him before she arrived. Oh well, too late to dwell on that now.

“I’m sorry, you’re the who now?” Bradley asked, barely managing to keep his astonishment out of his tone. 

“Elena Jane Claremont-Diaz is my full legal name. I go by Jane Diaz professionally, less attention you know?” 

“Your mother is President Ellen Claremont? First female president. Technically the boss of all of us?” 

Jane nodded, “Yep.” 

Bradley laughed, “Alrighty then, would’ve been nice to know before now, but fine. That’s fine.” 

“I know it’s fine.” Jane shot back. 

“I just mean that it’s not a big deal.” Bradley told her. “Your work speaks for itself.” 

“Thank you.” 

Both adults turn their attention back to the interview happening in the adjacent room. 

The Chief thought carefully about his next words. “Ok, so IS-K knows. How do they know? How do you know that they know?” 

“Ah ah ah, hold on now, Chief. I gave you something, now you get to give me something.” Aaron waggled his finger like he was scolding a puppy. 

“You didn’t really give me anything of value. So what you’re telling me is that IS-K allegedly knows President Claremont has a daughter by the name Elena Jane Claremont-Diaz? Anyone with internet access could know that information. Yourself included.”

“True, anyone could know that. However, not everyone would know she’s a CIA officer, and that tidbit they do know and intend to exploit to their advantage.” 

“How did you come into contact with IS-K in the first place?” the chief didn’t take his bait about how IS-K intending to use their knowledge of her. 

Aaron shook his head, smiling. “No, that’s all I’ll say, Chief. Bring me Jane, and I’ll sing like a canary, but you and me,” Aaron pointed between them, “we’re finished here.” 

“If that’s the way you want it. We can be finished.” 

The Chief stood up and walked out of the room, making no indication when or if Aaron would get to speak with Jane. 

When the door opened to the observation room, the Chief greeted the waiting pair with a “Well that went well.” 

Jane couldn’t quite tell if he was being sarcastic. 

“Jane, are you ready to go in?” Bradley asked. 

Jane thought about it, looking between the two men before turning her attention back to the glass that blocked her from Aaron. She came all this way and she was determined to finish this, but she was determined it would be on her own terms. 

“No. Let’s make him wait.” she said finally. “Me going in now looks like a concession. Me going in at all is going to look like a concession to his demands, but we need to make sure we concede only what we want. Let him ponder his chat with the Chief, let him stew it over for while.” 

Jane walked toward the glass until there were only centimeters between her and the wall. 

“Let his mind wonder if the next person walking in the room is going to be me or if it's going to be the FBI with a pair of handcuffs.” 

Jane walked out of the room, not entirely sure where she was going, but she wanted out of that little box. She made her way back to the conference room she’d been earlier. 

She pushed a chair toward the window and plopped down, head in her hands. Everything seemed so easy in D.C. The choice to come to Pakistan felt less like a choice and more like a necessity when she first received the call. Now, it felt stupid. She rubbed at her temples, fluorescent lights beating down on her and doing nothing to help the headache that was slowly building behind her eyes. 

Had she truly consigned herself to playing (and currently losing) the game he so clearly wanted to play? 


	15. Closing Ranks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reunion of a different sort.

Jane sat in her swivel chair by the window for around half an hour before the Chief came to find her. 

“You don’t have to do this you know?” he said quietly from her right. “Especially now that we know he knew about your family, you don’t have to stay. No one would blame you for leaving.” 

“I do have to do it. Don’t be ridiculous.” Jane stared out the windows. “I want to do this, but I don't want him to think for even a moment that he has the upper hand.” 

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks. He has no hand to play.” 

“What do you think is the endgame here? He mentioned on the phone wanting money, or I mean he said he had intel we would ‘pay dearly for’. He has to know that no matter what he says, we aren’t just going to hand him a bag of cash and let him go.” 

“No, that certainly won’t happen. I think the best case scenario for him is remaining in our custody somehow. He’s probably hoping for witness protection or something along those lines. It sounds to me like he fucked over some scary people in the IS-K and they didn’t take too kindly to that. Whether he realizes it or not, he’s on their list now, and that list is one you never get off. Giving him a bag of money and setting him free would basically be a death sentence.” 

Jane nodded. Everything the Chief said made sense, but it didn’t make it any easier to digest. She wanted Aaron behind bars, not living in some po-dunk small town living on federal tax dollars protected from his enemies. 

“I want him in prison, Chief.” 

“I know. That’s not your call, though, not really. I think it depends on how good his intel is.” 

“Well who gets to decide that?” 

“Not you or I, that’s for sure. We can try to broker a deal, but it’s up to the powers that be to follow through.” 

Jane turned her attention back to the world outside the window. She saw Pakistanis of all walks of life roaming up and down the streets. Children laughing and playing, adults on their phones, women laughing together, and all living such anonymous lives. They were just regular people, living. She wondered what that was like. 

“I’m starved. Let’s get some food and then I’ll go back to the interview room.” 

“Let’s go.” 

Jane and the Chief went down to the Embassy cantina for some much needed sustenance. 

***

It was well into the night when Jane, the Chief, and Bradely reassembled in the observation room. 

Aaron was clearly agitated, pacing around the small rectangular interview room. The remnants of what looked like his dinner were still sitting on the table. How nice of them to feed him, Jane thought. Too bad they couldn’t drug him and sell him off to terrorists. 

Jane shook her head. She needed to pull herself the fuck away from that line of thinking. That’s not her, not who she is, now how American intelligence officers are supposed to think. She was better than that, better than him. 

“Alright, I’m going to go in there.” 

“Do you want someone to go in and restrain him first?” Bradley asked. 

Jane immediately shook her head, “No.” 

No, restraining him would only make her look weak. Her sling would too. She shrugged the garment over her head, wincing slightly at the stiffness in her shoulder. Jane refused to appear weak in front of this man. 

“Are you sure? I think your mothe-” 

Jane walked out the door before the Chief could finish his sentence. Her mother had no place in the decision making for this interview. 

She stood for a moment outside the interview room. This was it. No turning back once the door was open. Why was she feeling so nervous? Jane was always steadfast. She’d done hundreds of these interviews. 

She had to admit to herself that this one was unlike the others. She’d never had to interview her former partner who tried to drug her and sell her to a terrorist organization after blowing up a Jordanian bazaar killing who knows how many people. 

Deep breaths. Deep breaths were going to be important. 

Jane opened the door. 

The first thing she noticed was the smell of stale bread and floor cleaner. Aaron stood in the far corner, staring up at the ceiling. He jerked his eyes toward her when she stepped over the threshold, a smile on his face. 

“Looks like I was right after all.” he rasped out. Aaron’s voice had always been low, guttural sounding. 

“Have a seat.” Jane waved her hand in the direction of a chair. 

“I have to say you certainly look better than the last time I saw you. Tell me Jane, how did you get out of that apartment?” 

He was taunting her, trying to get her to give herself away. 

She sighed, “Aaron, sit the fuck down. Believe it or not, I have better things to do than talk to you, so let’s just do this and get it done.” 

Aaron sat and she took her own place across from him. 

The former partners sat in silence, staring the other down. Jane refused to be the first one to speak. Aaron would be the one to come to her, not the other way around. The only sound in the room came from the tick tick tick of the second hand on the clock behind her. 

“It’s good to see you.” He started. 

“I wish I could say the same.” 

“Aw, you didn’t miss me?” he teased. 

“Can’t say that I did. Being betrayed by someone tends to dim any friendly feels one might have.” 

Aaron smiled at her, a smile that was familiar at one point but now it felt like looking at a stranger. 

“How’s the family, Jane? Did you have a nice visit in Washington?” 

“They’re fine. This isn’t really about them, though. This is about you and me.” Jane retorted, shutting down talk about her family. “Let’s start with why you tried to turn me over to IS-K.” 

“Oh, but it is about them, Jane. After all, the business of running America is practically a family business at this point isn’t it? Mom’s in the White House. Dad’s in Congress. And that little brother, well he’s got his feelers all over the map, doesn’t he?” 

Nope. She was not going to give him the satisfaction of responding. 

“You see, Jane, I truly did not know about you or who your family was. All I knew is that you were a good officer. Like everyone said, you’re one of the best. A big bright career was in your future and you could do no wrong. I always wondered how you did it.” 

Aaron chuckled. 

“It wasn’t until Paris, you remember Paris, right?” 

Of course she remembered Paris. It was her biggest take down, yet. She’d been tracking that particular target for years. He was a bad fucking dude with ties to ISIS and IS-K, one of the key money men for the organization. They found him in a seedy apartment in the Gare du Nord neighborhood, a place one should really avoid on any trip to Paris. 

“After the capture, you were all anyone at the agency could talk about, but of course you always were. News flash though, you weren’t the only one on that op! That didn’t matter though.”

So that’s what this was all about? He was pissed that no one gave him recognition. 

“Well ‘news flash’ to you buddy, if you wanted a gold star you really picked the wrong line of work. You want recognition, join a different agency. Although,” she snorted, “looks like that isn’t really an option for you anymore.” 

His face hardened, levity gone. 

“You still don’t get it! You don’t deserve any of it! You don’t deserve your job, you don’t deserve the recognition. Yet, still you were the one slated for a promotion! You were the one who got the best targets, the best support!” he was yelling now. “You only got to this position because your fucking family bought it for you!” 

He was breathing hard at this point, but Jane was going to wait until he got it all out. 

“You and your fucking family! Damn you’re worse than the fucking Kennedys trying to be the royal family of America, and then you actually went and got actually royalty involved in all your shit! No doubt your mom wanted you in the CIA so you can help her get intel about her opponents and make sure she got reelected. An insider in the intelligence community would certainly be useful for a tyrant like Ellen Claremont.” 

Jane was about two seconds from jumping over the table and strangling Aaron. 

“Aaron, I was part of the CIA long before my mother was president. She didn’t even know until she got elected. If you really knew me like you said you did, you would know I’m not actually all that close to my family. You’d also know that all those accusations you were just throwing out are entirely baseless. Who filled your head with that crap anyways? Your buddies in IS-K?” 

“Deny it all you want, Jane. I know the truth. And you know what, dear, IS-K opened up my eyes to all the bullshit you and your family are using your power for all over the world. They approached me after Paris and it finally made sense. All the little things over the years made sense! You’re a parasite on this agency and your mother… that bitch is dragging this country into the dirt.” 

Jane slammed her hand onto the table, control slipping. 

“You’re fucking delusional, Aaron. I also considered you to be smart, a little unfocused sometimes, but smart. Hell, you made it through the Farm and were half-way decent at your job. How did you fall so low, stoop so low, to believe flagrant lies about your country, about me?” 

Aaron laughed again. “See that’s it! You’re so blinded by all the Company bullshit!” 

This was going nowhere. This wasn’t the Aaron of her memories. No, this was some deranged version of a man she once knew, but this was not Aaron. 

“Do you hear yourself right now? You sound delusional. Do you really hate me that much that you could be so blinded by the lies IS-K has been feeding you? You’ve seen what these people can do, the violences and atrocities they commit! How could you trust them for even a moment?” 

“They aren’t lies, but that doesn’t even matter. It was clear that my career was pretty much dead in the water, what with your family connections basically ensuring you would be DCI one day. IS-K could offer me so much more than the fucking CIA. Get one of the Claremont-Diaz children, and seal the deal. So I figured, might as well.” Aaron shrugged. 

Jane felt like she was going to vomit any second. That was all it took? Some money and professional jealousy? That’s fucking it? He killed all those people, nearly killed her, for that? 

“You might as well? Might as fucking well?” 

“Well yeah. I was already close to you. I briefly considered going after your brother. After all, with that boy toy of his, he’d give IS-K a little more leverage than they’d get with you. But, alas, you were the far easier target.” 

Jane shot out of her chair so fast it flew into the wall behind her. Nope. This was over. He could threaten her and spew all his bullshit all the livelong day, but he was  _ not _ going to threaten her family. 

“Ok, so you were going to give me to them. Everything you’ve told me so far, we already know. You haven’t given us any real intel. So start talking Aaron, or I’m leaving.” she demanded. 

“Oh come on, aren’t you having fun? I am. Say, how much do you think your mother would pay to get you back? Are you worth enough to have your mother move troops or use America’s might to get you back? What about your brother? Would that prince pay to get him back?” 

Searing pain shot up from her now bleeding knuckles up to her shoulder. She really shouldn’t have taken off that sling. Chaos erupted in the room, Aaron clutched his now broken nose from his new position on the floor, Bradley and Chief burst through the door. 

“Get her out of here!” Bradley shouted to the Chief who ushered Jane out of the room. 

She wrenched her arm out of the Chief’s grasp and stormed down the halls, aggressively punching the elevator button. 

“What the hell was that, Jane?” the Chief demanded. 

“That is the case and point why people who are involved personally in cases do not do interviews.” Jane said, refusing to meet the Chief’s eyes. “I’m not gonna say I’m sorry.” 

“You wouldn’t be you if you did.” he said as they stepped into the elevator. 

“I’m not going back in there with him.” 

The Chief laughed, “Like you’d be allowed.” 

“What do we do now?” she inquired. 

“Bradley will continue and get what he can out of him. If he wants protection from whoever he pissed off in IS-K, he’ll have to suck it up and talk to Bradley.” 

“We should’ve just done that in the first place.” She admitted. Looking back, her decision to come to Pakistan was rash but the decision to let her actually interview him was downright stupid. Any chance of prosecuting him just got severely impeded but her outburst, which was surely his plan from the get go. Taunt her until she snapped. 

Fuck, she’d played right into it. 

“Bradley needs to dig deeper into any plans he might have considered for capturing one of my siblings. We need to--” 

The chief cut her off as they exited the elevator.

“He knows, Jane. I mentioned it to him as soon as Aaron brought it up.” 

“We need to look into IS-K radio chatter, online chat rooms, everything. If this is the start of some sort of plot, we need to start working it now!” 

“I know, Jane, and we will. Once Bradley finishes the interview, we’ll use whatever intel he gets to dig and make sure you and your family are safe.” the Chief tried to calm her down. 

They reached the conference room and Jane went straight for the phone. She dialed Zahra, who she knew could connect her with Ellen. 

“Bankston.” 

“Zahra, it’s Jane. I need you to find my mother and get her on the phone immediately.” 

“Your mother is in a meeting with the joi-” 

“Yes, yes. I’m fully aware that my mother is a very busy person. Now do what I fucking say and get my mother on the phone, Zahra.” 

“Want to run that by me one more time, Jane?” Zahra replied stonily. 

“Look, I’m sorry ok. It’s an emergency. Get my mother on the phone. Please.” 

“Give me a minute and I’ll patch you through.” 

Jane waited, hold music ringing out through the room from the conference room’s speakerphone. A few minutes later, her mother’s slightly annoyed voice sounded over the line. 

“Jane. I was in the middle of my morning briefing.” she said dryly. 

“Where are June and Alex?” 

“Living their lives I suppose. Alex is in New York, I believe June is also there visiting. They all leave for the U.K in a few days though. I hope you have a better reason for pulling me out of a briefing than to catch up on your siblings.” 

Jane rolled her eyes. “Bring them to the White House immediately. I don’t care what kind of fuss they raise, get them to the White House as soon as possible. If Henry is in New York he needs to come too. If not then then he needs to get his ass on a plane to D.C., too. Dad also needs to step up security right away. No trips to Europe, no one leaves D.C.” 

“Explain, Jane. Right now.” her mother demanded, presidential voice replacing the motherly drawl she’d answered with. 

“I don’t have a full debrief at the moment. I will fill you in as soon as possible. However, right now, in this moment. You need to trust me like you would trust another other intelligence official telling you to close the ranks and bring everyone in. I’m fucking good a my job, so, please, just do as say.” 

Her mother was quiet for a moment. 

“Alright. They’re all in New York. I’ll have them fly down as soon as I can, but they were going to the U.K on official business so I’m not-” 

“No. Tell them whatever you have to, but no one leaves. ISIS and IS-K have extremely active cells in Europe. They’d be sitting ducks. Get them to D.C. now. Tell the U.K. they should step up their security, too. I don’t think they’re in any real danger. Only Henry could be because of his ties to us.” 

“Jane, if you have intel about an attack--”

Jane interrupted. “I don’t have intel about an imminent attack, but there have been threats. I’ll know more in just a bit, but for now, just do it.” 

Jane disconnected the line. 

“Did you just hang up on the President of the United States?” the Chief laughed. 

“I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager. It’s old news, buddy.” she shrugged. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello 
> 
> I was feeling quite inspired today, so I got a fair amount of writing done for once lol. 
> 
> This chapter was really fun to write and I'm superrrrr excited for the next few! 
> 
> Once again, thanks for sticking around and reading. I love seeing the comments and kudos, they are much appreciated! 
> 
> xx

**Author's Note:**

> So there you have it. Let me know what you think?


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